Forest Roots
by HoshiNoKaabi
Summary: The memories he had of his past were faint, lain dormant in the furthest reaches of his mind. Those who once knew him assume him dead, and is long-forgotten by them. But in his heart, he never forgot where his roots lie, and that he was a forest warrior by heart...
1. Dovepool and Graystorm

**Hello, readers! Welcome to** _ **Forest Roots**_ **! This is my first Kid Icarus fanfic, and it will explore the backstory of the game's protagonist, Pit, where he came from, who his kin were, and how he developed into the angel everyone knows him to be.**

 **I find myself rather drawn to the close bond Pit has with Palutena, that sort of mother-and-son relationship between the two, and that inspired me to write this story.**

 **I don't have much else to say, but** _ **review**_ **! I'd love to know what you think.**

* * *

The forest. A vast land, made up of four regions, of deciduous woodland, shadowy pine marshes, open windswept moorland, and shady river shore. This forest was home to four tribes, who'd lived there for generations.

Suntribe was known for its strong, loyal warriors who were skilled at hunting in dense undergrowth. Nighttribe was known for its stealthy, shadowy warriors who used the cover of night to their advantage when hunting. Skytribe was known for its fast, lithe warriors who enjoyed chasing their prey on the open moor. And Watertribe was known for its sleek, agile warriors who didn't mind getting wet when they hunted.

But these tribes did not always live here, nor were they always tribes. This forest was once inhabited by another species. A species known to humans as divine beings, servants and messengers of the gods. A species that appears to be a unique hybrid between man and bird.

The forest was once home to angels.

Some were distant relatives of those whom have taken to the skies. Others were lost ones that had gotten separated from the rest of their kind. And some were youngsters that had always been wild, and never exposed to humans. Living in small groups, by their own rules, it was a very divided place, and only their being the same race bonded them.

It was a foreign tribe from a nearby mountain range that introduced the structured way of life that now thrives in the tribes known in current times. Assimilating with the native angels, the mountain tribe split into four, and over the course of innumerable generations, establishing life as it is known. In the process, having wings was a trait that became cut out of their genetics, for they had no use for such appendages. An ability to pounce, mastered by observing cougars, compansated for this.

Through tales passed down by word of mouth, these tribe's rich history has been preserved. Among these tales is a story that only so many can remember.

A story about an orphaned kit who was born in the forest, but raised among the heavens...

* * *

The gray haired warrior growled, and launched himself at his opponent, pinning him down. The Watertribe warrior reacted by clawing at the gray warrior's shoulders. Blood ran down the warrior's arms, staining the ground red, but he held on, his claws digging into the Watertribe warrior's chest. The warrior snarled and threw the gray warrior off of him, then jumped up and pinned down the gray warrior. Staring at him coldly, the Watertribe warrior ripped open his opponent's underbelly. The gray warrior let out a yowl of pain, then grabbed his opponent by the head and threw him sideways. The gray warrior then clawed his opponent's face. The Watertribe warrior yowled, then leapt up from the gray warrior's grasp, and took off. As the warrior ran off, the others joined him. The Suntribe warriors let out howls of victory, then headed back to their camp.

"We won," the gray warrior said, as he headed for the nursery. There, a female warrior with long, silver hair emerged from the nursery.

"Dovepool..." the gray warrior said, panting, exhausted from the fight. Then suddenly feeling dizzy from loss of blood, he collapsed onto the ground. The wounds on his underbelly bled heavily, and a pool of blood started to form underneath him.

"Graystorm!" Dovepool ran up to her mate. The gray warrior softly moaned, then partially opened his eyes, and gazed at Dovepool.

Horrified by how much blood Graystorm was losing, Dovepool bent down beside him and started to make some effort to stop the bleeding. But Graystorm feebly nudged her away.

"No, Dovepool...there's nothing you can do for me now. I go to hunt with Startribe now..."

"But Graystorm...what about our kits?"

Graystorm closed his eyes.

"You will know what to do when the time comes...raise them well for me, Dovepool."

The gray warrior went limp, and his breathing gradually grew fainter, until it stopped.

* * *

"Quick! Go get Tawny Leaf!"

Dovepool clenched her jaw as another contraction seized her. Soon, Darkfang returned with Tawny Leaf, and her apprentice, Whitepaw.

"If you put your hand here, you can actually feel the kits inside the mother's belly," Tawny Leaf said to her apprentice. Whitepaw gently put her hand on Dovepool's belly.

" _Ow!_ " Dovepool yelped. "Get off me!"

Whitepaw pulled her hand back, and looked surprised at Dovepool.

"Sorry," Whitepaw said guiltily. "I didn't think it would hurt that much."

"Queens can be crabby when kitting." Tawny Leaf eyed Dovepool. "Some are crabbier than others."

"You'd be crabby if you'd been kitting since dawn," Dovepool snapped, as another contraction rippled through her.

Dovepool shut her eyes, and shuddered, trying to focus all of her strength in giving birth to her kits.

Suddenly, the pain in her belly faded a bit, and a wave of warmth went through her. Dovepool instinctively relaxed, then opened her eyes. Tawny Leaf was holding the kit in her arms, as she licked clean the kit's face. Whitepaw nipped the cord connected to the baby's belly.

"It's a tom," Whitepaw remarked.

Tawny Leaf wrapped the baby in a cloth, and gently set him down in Dovepool's arms. Dovepool gingerly licked the top of his head, and looked closely at him.

The kit had inherited the well-rounded face of his mother, though his eyes were set far apart, like his father. His soft hair naturally lay in thick tufts, and was a rich shade of brown with a hint of dark ginger, the color of a vole's pelt.

Suddenly, the kit made a tiny noise. Dovepool watched in surprise as the kit rubbed his eyes and slowly opened them.

The kit's eyes were a dark, pale blue, like the night sky. So dark, yet expressive and reflecting as water. They were round, like Dovepool's, and big with curiosity as he gazed up at his mother.

"He's cute," Darkfang remarked. "I've never seen a kit with so dark of eyes."

"He kinda reminds me of Graystorm's mother, Pike Tail," one of the other nursery queens, Blossomleaf, said. "She had brown hair like that."

"What are you going to name him?" Tawny Leaf asked.

Dovepool smiled. "Pikekit. His name is Pikekit."

"Your love for Graystorm is why you gave him a Watertribe name, isn't it?"

Dovepool nodded.

"Graystorm would be very proud," Darkfang said. "It's too bad he died, before getting the chance to see his son, who will never truly know just how great of a warrior his father was."

As the others left to give Dovepool time alone with her kit, she thought about that, and recalled Graystorm's dying words.

 _You will know what to do when the time comes. Raise them well for me, Dovepool._

 _Yes, I will,_ Dovepool thought, as she looked down lovingly at Pikekit. _And this kit_ will _know about you, Graystorm. I'll tell him all about you. Tell him about just how great of a warrior you were, and how you died bravely in battle. Yes, this kit will know who his father was. I promise._


	2. Daylight

"Pikekit...hey Pikekit, wake up."

Adderkit playfully, yet gently poked her little brother on the head, trying to silently wake him up.  
Dovepool lay on her side, facing the entrance of the nursery. Pikekit lay asleep, under her arm, curled up against her chest.

At the feeling of Adderkit poking him, Pikekit yawned and slowly opened his eyes, sleepily gazing up at his sister.

"Come on outside and play with me. You've never been outside before."

Adderkit was at least a year older than Pikekit. She too, had a well-rounded face, but her eyes were set closer together. Her hair was streaked red and dark ginger, and her bangs were tufted.

"You should come see the camp, Pikekit. It's _huge_."

That made Pikekit curious. He rubbed his eyes and nodded at his sister.

"Okay."

The brown-haired kit wriggled out from underneath his mother's arm. He started to follow Adderkit out of the nursery, when he felt a gentle hand stop him.

"And where do you think you're going?"

It was Dovepool. She'd felt Pikekit move, and was wide awake.

Pikekit turned his head to look at his mother.

"Outside," he said.

Dovepool thought for a moment, then took her hand away.

"Alright," she replied. "Just don't go too far."

"Okay." Pikekit followed his sister out of the nursery. Once outside, the intense sunlight stung his eyes.

After he blinked away the glare, he looked around.  
The camp _was_ huge. It was a sandy ravine, surrounded by trees and undergrowth. At the other end, Pikekit could spot a ledge looking out on the camp, that was so tall its shadow spread halfway across the camp. Not far away was a fallen tree that overlapped two boulders, its branches tangled and twisted. Near the nursery, dead bushes created what appeared to be a wall near a flat ledge. On the other side of the nursery was a huge dead tree with pale colored moss hanging from its stumps of branches.  
In the middle of the camp was a heap of dead birds and mice, topped off with a plump squirrel. The fresh-kill pile.

Adderkit came up to him.

"Well, what do you think? It's big, right?"

Pikekit nodded.

"It's huge. Really huge."

Adderkit grinned excitedly.

"Then wait until you become an apprentice. Mama told me that's when you get to see the rest of the forest. I can't wait!"

"Yeah, but not before me."

A light-haired tom, around five years old, came up to them.

The tom was Thornkit. He was two years older than Adderkit, and almost twice as tall. He had a thin face and dark brown eyes that made him look older than he actually was. His dappled cream-and-white hair was sleek and somewhat long for a tom. He almost looked like he belonged in Watertribe.

"You just say that because you're older than me."

"Right, and you have to be six years old to become an apprentice. I'm two years ahead of you. And I always will be ahead of you."

"Oh yeah?"

Adderkit launched herself at her older denmate, knocking him over. They flipped over a couple of times before Thornkit pinned her down. Adderkit launched him away, sprang up, and pounced again, and the two began wrestling with each other.

Pikekit was about to join them, when he saw a flicker of white out of the corner of his eye. Curious, he turned to see what it was.

It was a moth, fluttering around in all random directions on its fragile, white wings.

Pikekit had never seen a moth before. He reached out and lightly batted at it. The moth began frantically zipping about, trying to fly away from the thing that was threatening to knock it out of the air. Pikekit watched the moth, fascinated, before he batted at it again.

Pretty soon, he was running and jumping about, trying to catch the moth. Finally he reared up and was able to snatch it up in his hands, but the moth escaped and unsteadily flew away into the forest.

As Pikekit watched the moth fly away, Thornkit threw Adderkit off of him nearby. She flipped over backwards, and tumbled into Pikekit, knocking him over.

Feeling playful after chasing that moth, Pikekit jumped on his sister, who playfully rolled over, making Pikekit get off of her. Thornkit ran up and pinned Adderkit down. Letting out as menacing of a growl he could make, Pikekit pounced on the light-haired tom, grabbing onto his shoulder. Thornkit sharply whipped his upper body sideways, throwing the little kit onto the ground, before turning and swiping his hand at the kit, knocking him away. He then turned his attention back to Adderkit.

Suddenly, a loud, pain-filled cry rose up in the air. The two kits stopped playing, and went over to see what it was. Pikekit was laying on his side on the ground, crying. At first, the two thought it was that he'd landed funny when Thornkit knocked him away...until Adderkit noticed his ear. Running diagonally halfway into his left ear was a clean, deep cut. A tiny bit of blood was starting to seep out.

Dovepool came running up, alarmed by Pikekit's cries. She scooped him up in her arms, and started tenderly licking the cut in his ear. Pikekit buried his face in her chest.

Adderkit and Thornkit silently watched Dovepool walk away with Pikekit. Blossomleaf came up to them.

"Come, you two. Let's go back in the nursery."

She turned and glared down sternly at Thornkit.

"And next time, don't play so roughly when there's a two-year-old kit in the mix."


	3. Adders

Dovepool hooked the mossball on her claw, and dangled it above Pikekit's head. The little kit jumped about, trying to get it. The silver-haired queen smiled playfully, and flung it across the nursery. Pikekit chased after it, picked it up, and started playfully tossing it around, like a little kitten playing with a toy.

"It's so interesting, how easily he's entertained by something so insignificant. It's also kinda cute."

Blossomleaf lay in the corner of the nursery, watching Dovepool play with Pikekit.

Dovepool turned to her.

"Yeah, it is kinda cute. It's not every day you find a kit that can easily entertain itself with something as simple as a mossball."

"Even Thornkit can't entertain himself that easily."

Dovepool returned her gaze to her son, who was still playing with the mossball. She eyed his nicked ear, her gaze following the line of the cut the little kit had gotten when Thornkit had hit him.

"Yeah, although I'm not happy with what happened a few days ago."

Blossomleaf abruptly looked over at her.

"They're just kits, Dovepool. They're just starting to learn to be aware. You can't blame them that much for accidents like that."

"I know, it's just...I feel like I need to be more protective over him than I really need to be."

Blossomleaf sat up.

"It's because Graystorm isn't around to help you and support you, isn't it?"

Dovepool nodded submissively.

"I...yes, it is. If Graystorm was around, I wouldn't feel this need to be overly protective of Pikekit."

"You know that at some point you're not going to be around to protect him."

Dovepool guiltily looked down at the ground.

"I know, I know. And I just wish I didn't feel the need to be so protective. It puts a lot of stress on me. Maybe I just need to back off and let someone else deal with him for a little while..."

Pikekit picked up the mossball and flung it up, and it tumbled out of the nursery. He went outside to go get it. Suddenly, Adderkit came up and playfully knocked it away.

"Hey!" Pikekit threw himself onto his sister, who playfully fell onto her back, pretending to be defeated. She let Pikekit beat her, before grabbing him and lightly tossing him aside. She then reared up, and fell back as Pikekit jumped on her again.

Dovepool watched anxiously as Pikekit started play-fighting. Blossomleaf turned to her and gave her a reassuring look.

"Don't worry, I've got my eye on them. I'll make sure they don't get in any trouble."

Dovepool hesitated, then nodded, and retreated to the back of the nursery.

After play-fighting for awhile, Adderkit got up and suddenly thought of something.

"Hey Pikekit, let's play hide-and-seek! You can hide first."

"Ok."

Adderkit closed her eyes and turned around. Pikekit took off, in search of a place to hide.  
He chose to hide in the hollow of a rock pile near the nursery. He hunkered down in the small space, in a crack between two boulders, waiting for Adderkit to find him.

The sound of hissing from behind suddenly alarmed him, and he whipped around to see what it was. Emerging from a crevice behind him was an adder, its sand colored body and brown zigzag pattern barely visible on the tan stone, flicking its forked tongue out at the kit.  
Pikekit backed away in fear, as more of the snakes emerged from the crevice, and spread out across the floor of the hollow.  
The snakes slowly advanced, and Pikekit backed away until he was trapped in a corner of the space, between the wall of the camp, and a boulder, far from the hole where he'd come in. Three of the adders reared up, threatened by the kit intruding their nest. Terrified, Pikekit crouched down, his eyes fixed on them, watching their every move.  
The adder's eyes glittered. One of them opened its mouth, revealing a pair of needle-sharp fangs. Pikekit yelped, scared that the snake was going to lash out and bite him.

Adderkit suddenly appeared, attracted by Pikekit's fearful cry. She was utterly shocked when she saw the adders. Pikekit looked up at his older littermate, pleading her to help him.

"Adderkit, do something!" he cried out fearfully, as the snakes got even closer to him.

"I'll be right back, Pikekit. I'm going to go get mama."

Without a moment's hesitation, she disappeared, calling out to her mother.

Dovepool, who was talking with Blossomleaf outside the nursery, abruptly looked up when she heard Adderkit calling her name.

"Adderkit, what is it?"

"It's Pikekit. You have to come see."

From the tone of her voice, Dovepool could tell something was wrong. She took off after Adderkit, to the rock pile. Looking down inside, she saw her son crouched down, cornered by a group of adders.

"Pikekit!"

At the sound of his name, Pikekit glanced up, looking directly at his mother. His eyes were full of terror.

"Mama, help me!"

One of the snakes made the motion like it was going to strike, exposing its fangs with a menacing hiss. Pikekit shrieked, and tried to make himself as small as he could.

At that, Dovepool leaped down into the space, ran over to where her son was, and stood defensively in front of him. Pikekit slowly crept forward, watching his mother. There was not a trace of fear or aggression in her stance, and the way she gazed down at the adders.

 _I'm not afraid of you, but I won't attack, unless I need to._

Sensing the young queen's confidence, the snakes backed down and retreated into their hole.

Dovepool relaxed for a moment, then turned to her son.

Pikekit was still crouched down on the ground. There was a look of pure terror on his face, and he was trembling slightly. Dovepool picked him up, and held him close to her. He buried his face in her chest as he started crying out of fear.

Dovepool soothingly stroked his head, trying to calm him down.

"It's okay, Pikekit...it's over...no need to cry...it's okay...it's okay..."

Pikekit relaxed a bit and stopped trembling, but he didn't stop crying. Being faced with those adders had scared him so badly it was almost to the point the incident had traumatized him. Every nerve in his body tense with pure fear, he could only relax enough so he was no longer shaking.

Dovepool relaxed her grip a bit on Pikekit as she took him back to the nursery, Adderkit close behind. Upon coming out of the rock pile, dozens of warriors were standing around, watching, alarmed by the scared cries of a mother and her kit.

"What happened?"

"Is everyone okay?"

"Don't worry, no one's hurt," Dovepool replied. "Just really, really scared, and caught by surprise. It was adders. There's a bunch of them in that rock pile. I believe their nest is in there, given how territorially aggressive the snakes were behaving."

As soon as she finished, she took her son to the nursery, where she continued to try and calm him down. She looked down sternly at Adderkit, who had her head down, in dread.

"Adderkit, I don't want you playing with Pikekit for awhile."

At that, Adderkit abruptly looked up at her mother, in shock.

"It wasn't my fault. I didn't know there were adders in there. I didn't know they even lived here."

"Don't be so hard on them," Blossomleaf reminded her. "They're only kits."

Dovepool looked at the light-haired queen, but said nothing. She averted her gaze down to Pikekit, who was still sobbing with his face buried in her chest. Keeping her arms around him, she went to her nest and sat down, where she resumed comforting her son, gently stroking his head.

Pikekit softly whimpered, and silently gazed up at his mother. Dovepool looked down at him, her gaze a mix of worry and comfort. After a few seconds, he closed his eyes again and nuzzled his head up against her. He'd stopped crying, although tears still streamed out of his eyes.

As Dovepool leaned her back up against the nursery wall, she traced her finger along the kit's nicked ear, and couldn't help but be reminded of her mate, Graystorm.

And be reminded that her son was yet to be told about his father...


	4. Curiosity

"Pikekit, hold still."

Pikekit squirmed uncomfortably as Dovepool licked the back of his head, messing up the soft hairs that grew down close to his neck. As she started grooming behind his ears, he shook his head, trying to get his mother to quit grooming him there.

"Mama, stop it. You're messing my hair up."

"Pikekit, would you please just sit still for one second, and cooperate with me."

Dovepool resumed grooming the back of his head. She started going behind his ears again, to which Pikekit ducked his head down, and hunched up his shoulders. He flat-out hated it when his mother groomed the back of his head, especially behind his ears.

"Mama, stop!"

Dovepool stopped licking him, and sighed. "Fine..."

She let him go, and he almost immediately rubbed the hair on the back of his head, so that it lay flat again, except for a few places, in which the tips curled up a bit. There had also begun to be a small piece of his hair that wanted to stand up, a small cowlick on the back of his head, and nothing Dovepool did kept it from doing this. Not that Pikekit liked her messing with it.

One of the elders, Sparrow's Song, who was sitting out in the camp, in front of the elder's den, looked over at the nursery. Noticing Pikekit's resentment at having his mother groom the back of his head, he chuckled amusingly.

"I remember when Graystorm was that age. He absolutely hated having the back of his head groomed, too."

Pikekit tilted his head at the name Graystorm. He'd heard that name many times, but didn't know who he was. And whenever he heard others mention the name, often times he was being compared to him, like he was related to whoever Graystorm was. Curious, Pikekit turned to his mother.

"Mama? Who is Graystorm?"

Dovepool looked at her son, surprised. She then dipped her head a bit.

"Graystorm...was your father. He was a great and noble warrior. He was born in another tribe, but was adopted into Suntribe and grew up with us."

Pikekit glanced out and around at the camp briefly before averting his gaze back to Dovepool.

"Where is he?"

Dovepool looked down, unsure of how to respond. She had deeply dreaded to explain to her son that his father had died. Death was a hard thing to explain to a kit in a way they would understand, especially when it was death of their kin. As well, it was typical for kits to take something like this to heart, and Dovepool dreaded that she would have to go through something like that with her son. Nervous and unsure of herself, Dovepool was silent for a moment. She then looked at her son, mournfully.

"Your father is dead, Pikekit. He died a few days before your birth."

Dovepool was thoroughly expecting a much larger reaction out of her son, than what he gave her. All he did was just gaze at his mother, a look of slight shock in his eyes. But that quickly turned into curiosity.

"How'd he die, Mama?"

Dovepool closed her eyes for a second. It still somewhat hurt her inside to think about her mate, and the fact he was gone, although she no longer showed it. After a few seconds, she returned her gaze to her son.

"Your father died in a battle against his birth tribe. They were fighting over a place on the border of our territory called Sunboulders.

Sunboulders is a huge rock pile on the border of our territory. It used to belong to the other tribe long ago, but then the river changed direction, and it became accessible from dry land, and we claimed it as part of our territory. But the other tribe thought it should still belong to them, and since then, more fights have happened there than anywhere else in the forest.

Your father took part in a fight over Sunboulders a few days before your birth. He was fatally wounded in the fight, and died upon his return to the camp."

Pikekit looked rather intrigued by the story. It was as if the kit understood and admired how brave and courageous his father was. His dark eyes beaming, a proud smile grew on the kit's face.

"Mama, when I grow up, I'm going to be a great warrior like my father was."

Dovepool smiled at Pikekit's pride. She gently stroked his nicked ear.

"Yes, you will. And your father would be very proud of you."


	5. Escape From the Forest

Pikekit batted at a bright orange leaf that lay on the ground. It floated up and swirled around in the light breeze that blew. The brown-haired kit watched it, then jumped up and tried to catch it.  
It was near the end of leaf-fall, and much of the tribe was preparing for leaf-bare. Sunstar sent out more hunting parties, stocking up on fresh-kill, as leaf-bare was a time when prey was scarce.  
Dovepool watched Pikekit chase after the leaves, anxiety welling up inside her. She'd begun to develop a disliking of tribe life, not because she didn't like it, but out of her son's safety. With everything that had happened over the past couple of moons, Dovepool had begun to think that the forest was too dangerous of a place for her to raise her son, and had begun to want to take Pikekit, and leave the forest, to raise him somewhere else.  
She knew she'd be abandoning Graystorm and Pikekit's hopes of becoming a warrior, but the kit's safety was instinctively what mattered to her most.

"Dovepool." Blossomleaf lay in the nursery, grooming herself. "Are you sure you know what you're doing, wanting to leave the forest?"

Blossomleaf knew far better than anyone else in the tribe what Dovepool was going through in raising Pikekit without his father; the excessive stress and anxiety being put on her in feeling the need to be overly protective of her kit, given her own son, Thornkit, was fatherless, or at least, he did have a father, but he wasn't part of Suntribe, and had expressed absolutely no interest in seeing his son.

Thus, it was easy for Blossomleaf to talk with Dovepool in regards to her over-protectiveness, and how it affected her way of thinking.

Dovepool looked over at the light-haired queen, then averted her gaze to the ground.

"I...I don't know...I feel like it's too hazardous here, in the forest, but I can't bring myself to make the decision to just leave. I'd be abandoning my father, my former mate, and everything I've ever known my whole life. But my instincts tell me to leave. I guess I'm kind of torn between the two sides, of either following my instincts, or following my heart."

Blossomleaf sat up.

"And where does Adderkit stand in this? If you leave, do you plan on taking her with you, or leaving her behind? And is leaving really the best thing to do? You might never come back, and Pikekit might completely forget that the forest and the tribes even exist, much less that he was born here."

"I know. And maybe I'm just being selfish, wanting to leave the tribe. I guess I just need to...think things through..."

Dovepool trailed off as a strange crackling noise and the smell of something burning filled the air.

Concerned, Dovepool went outside and glanced around the camp. At first, she didn't notice anything unusual. Pikekit was happily chasing after the leaves. Cedarbranch, Darkfang, and Swiftpaw were coming back from hunting. Daisypaw and Bluepaw were caring for the elders.

But when she looked up at the top of the camp wall, near where Pikekit was playing, what she saw made her let out a choking cry.

Bright orange flames lapped hungrily at the ground, burning away the undergrowth on the rim of the camp wall. Clouds of smoke billowed up from the forest beyond.

The forest was on fire. The dry leaf-fall had made good conditions for fire to start.

Dovepool watched the fire work its way into the camp, devouring the undergrowth that grew along the camp wall. Pikekit batted at another leaf, his back facing where the fire was, oblivious to what was going on.

Dovepool was about to go get her son, when an ominous creaking noise distracted her. A burning oak tree was slowly starting to fall into the camp. The tree loomed over Pikekit, aimed to fall directly where he was playing. She heard a warrior yell out for the kit to get out of the way, but the kit didn't seem to hear them.

Just as Dovepool was about to take the risk and go get him, the kit turned around and looked up, the tree's shadow arousing him. Upon seeing the burning tree, he let out a startled yelp.

Pikekit just stood there, staring at the fiery oak tree. Dovepool watched anxiously, desperately hoping he would flee, but he didn't. There was a frightened look on the kit's face, but he showed no signs that he was going to run away.

Finally, at the last second, the little kit bolted, and just barely made it out before the burning tree would've landed on him. He ran up to Dovepool and jumped into her arms, half-terrified.

At this point, the rest of the tribe had noticed the fire, and were evacuating the camp. Many warriors grabbed as much as they could from the fresh-kill pile on their way out.

The moment she was out of the camp, Dovepool took off into the forest, still holding on to Pikekit, who had his face buried in her chest. The fire had been enough to push her past her breaking point, and she could think of nothing but her son's safety. Partway through the forest, she heard a voice behind her.

"Dovepool, where are you going? Are you leaving the forest?"

The silver-haired queen stopped and looked back. It was Blossomleaf.

"Yes, I am leaving," Dovepool replied. "The forest is too dangerous of a place for me to raise Pikekit, and I'm going to someplace safer."

As soon as she finished speaking, she began to run again.

"Dovepool, you're crazy! You can't survive out there!"

Dovepool ignored Blossomleaf, and continued to head away from the forest, and into the wilderness beyond.


	6. Snow

"Mama, where are we going?" Pikekit asked as Dovepool set him down in the tall grass.

They'd long since passed the border of the forest, and now were in the middle of a vast prairie. A huge expanse of grassy plains and small hills. A seemingly endless field of grass, not a single tree or shrub to be found as far as one could see. That was all that was known so far to the tribes to lay outside the outer borders of Suntribe territory.

Dovepool hadn't stopped running the moment she took off, how long ago that was she didn't know, but it had been awhile, and now she was exhausted, and it wore her out even more having to carry her son in her arms.

"Somewhere safe," Dovepool replied. "Where exactly, I don't know. Just not the forest."

She ran her finger along the kit's nicked ear, feeling the cut that he'd gotten from when Thornkit had hit him.

"Why? You not like it there? Sparrow's Song told me you love it."

"Oh yes, I do. I love the forest very much. That's all I've ever known my whole life. But your safety is what matters to me now. And to me, the forest is too dangerous for you to be raised there."

"Oh, ok."

Pikekit looked around for a moment before averting his gaze back to Dovepool.

"Hey mama? What is Startribe?"

Dovepool was caught off-guard with the question. "Why do you ask?"

"Sparrow's Song told me that was where my father is."

Dovepool couldn't help but chuckle amusingly. Ever since he'd moved in with the elders, Sparrow's Song had always a penchant for saying a lot about tribe life, especially to young kits, and never explain what some things were, particularly things that a kit couldn't grasp in their minds without any explanation as to what it was.

"Startribe is where a warrior's spirit goes after they die. It used to be known to our ancestors as the Tribe of Countless Stars. Its members can be seen in the form of Silverpelt, a long stretch of stars in the night sky."

Dovepool put her hand on Pikekit's shoulder.

"Pikekit, if you end up being raised without me, I want you to remember that no matter where you are in the world, or how far away from the forest you are, Startribe will always be with you, to watch over and guide you."

Suddenly, a bunch of little white things started fluttering down from the sky. Pikekit looked up and batted at one of them, his eyes big with curiosity.

"What is it, Mama?"

Dovepool looked up too.

"It's snow. Each of those white things are snowflakes. If it snows hard enough, they'll make the whole ground white."

Pikekit batted at another snowflake.

"Really? They're so tiny."

"There'll be a lot of them, though."

A gentle breeze picked up as it started snowing harder. Pikekit watched the falling snow for a moment before getting into playful frenzy, trying to catch the falling snowflakes before they hit the ground. At one point, he snuffed up a snowflake, and he let out a small sneeze, which made his mother laugh.

Laying down in the grass, Dovepool watched her son play, and suddenly became unsure of the decision she'd made.

 _The forest is home to a lot of dangerous things. But am I really doing the right thing, just taking off like I did? Is that really what's best for Pikekit? What's best for me? Maybe I should go back..._

Dovepool rested her head down, deep in thought.

 _But...no. I've committed myself to leaving the forest. Besides, it's not like I know how to get back..._

Where the kit had been chasing the snowflakes was a small patch of well-trodden prairie grass. Pikekit stood in the middle of the patch, watching the snow fall. A thin blanket of white covered the ground, although the grass still poked through the snow, and the air was cold enough the kit could see his breath, a tiny cloud of condensation forming in front of him every time he breathed out.  
A gust of wind suddenly picked up. Pikekit tensed up at the feeling of the cold wind on his bare shoulders, his whole body shivering. When the wind didn't die down completely, he went over to his mother.

"Mama, I'm cold."

Dovepool lifted her head up. Upon seeing her son, she got into a sitting position, and let Pikekit climb onto her lap. Putting her arms around him and holding him close to her, she could feel his little body shaking as he curled up against her chest. She then slowly stood up, still holding onto her son.

Dovepool continued on her way, heading further and further into the vast plain. How far away she was from the forest, she didn't know, but it didn't matter. As it began to grow dark as night fell, Dovepool stopped where she was. She set Pikekit down on the ground again, then lay down in the snow, on her side. She lifted her arm up, and Pikekit went up and lay next to her chest. Once he'd settled, she rested her arm down.

"Mama," Pikekit lifted his head up a bit. "when are we going back to the forest?"

Dovepool closed her eyes.

"We're not going back..."

Dovepool relaxed as she drifted off to sleep. Pikekit lay there for a moment, before he too dozed off, the soothing warmth of his mother's body lulling him.


	7. Lost and Alone

Pikekit woke up to the wind howling in his ears. The light snowfall had turned into a blizzard, and the snow was now coming down in thick sheets. There was a biting chill to the wind, and it was so cold that a thin layer of frost had formed on the tips of the kit's hair.

Pikekit then turned his attention to his mother. She was completely limp, laying in the position she had been in when she fell asleep. Pressing against her chest, he could no longer feel any warmth coming from her body.

"Mama..?" Pikekit sat up and leaned in close to his mother's face. "Mama..?"

Worry filled him up when his mother didn't move or respond.

The brown-haired kit stood up and nudged his mother on the head, in an effort to get her to respond to him.

"Mama...wake up. Mama..."

Pikekit went over and started tugging on his mother's arm, but then it occurred to him, what had happened to her: _she was dead._ She'd frozen to death in her sleep.

Coming to this terrible realization, Pikekit stopped tugging on his mother's arm, and frantically glanced around for a moment, utterly shocked and lost on what to do. His mind was swirling with emotions. Finally, grief won over, and the little kit hung his head as tears started welling up in his eyes.

Pikekit glanced back at his mother sorrowfully. Unable to hold back his emotions, he went and tucked himself under her arm, curled up close to her chest, and started crying. He lay there for a long time, mournfully sobbing, not wanting to ever leave his mother's side. Streams of tears ran down his cheeks. He nuzzled his head up under her chin, like he used to when he was younger, in an effort to comfort himself, but the act of doing this only made him cry even more.

Finally, the little kit was able to gain some control over his emotions, and he knew he couldn't stay there. Rather hesitantly, he got to his feet, and started to walk away. But after a moment, he stopped, and glanced back at his mother. Trying hard to not let his emotions numb his senses again, he dipped his head, his eyes tightly shut, and took off running into the vast prairie.

* * *

"Sunstar, have you seen Dovepool?"

The Suntribe leader looked down at Adderkit. She didn't know that her mother had run away, never to come back. Neither did Sunstar, who shook his head in response.

"No, not since the fire. And now that you mention it," Sunstar glanced around the camp. "I wonder where she is."

"I know where Dovepool is." Blossomleaf approached the two. "And she's not anywhere near here."

Sunstar and Adderkit turned to her, surprised.

"Then where is she?"

"She ran away with her son, after escaping from the camp. She told me that the forest was too dangerous of a place for her to raise her son, and that she was going to someplace safer."

Sunstar stared at Blossomleaf, in disbelief.

"Dovepool belongs here, in Suntribe. She can't survive out there, on her own."

"I tried to convince her that. All she cared about was what was best for Pikekit."

Sunstar dipped his head.

"We'll probably never see her again. I know Cedarbranch won't be happy to hear that."

Blossomleaf looked down, and nodded, knowing just how much Dovepool had meant to her father, Cedarbranch.

* * *

The brown-haired kit ran until he couldn't run anymore, at which point he stopped to collect his thoughts.

 _What am I supposed to do now? My mother's gone, I have nowhere to go...I just wish I knew what to do... I wish I knew..._

Pikekit curled up in the snow and tucked his head between his arms, crying. He felt like he'd just lost everything. Dovepool was the one person he knew that truly loved him, and could care for him. She was the only person he had. Now, with her dead, he was completely alone; far from his home, far from help, far from anyone. Pikekit tucked his head further in his arms, as deep sorrow began welling up inside him.

Suddenly, as if in response to his utter sadness, the wind died down, to the point it was only a gentle breeze. Pikekit raised his head and looked up, as it stopped snowing and the clouds cleared away, revealing the night sky, where countless stars glittered brightly.

For a moment, the brown-haired kit relaxed, and stopped crying as he gazed at the night sky. Although he was unaware of it, his dark blue eyes reflected the starlight, like water.

After awhile the little kit rested his head down, and drifted off to sleep, under the light of Silverpelt.

 _Under the watchful eyes of Startribe..._

* * *

The hollow of Fourtrees glowed with pure starlight. A young silver-haired female stood under one of the great oaks, a muscular gray-haired tom beside her. From here, the two gazed upon a site that just about broke the young female's heart; a tiny kit, barely two years old, curled up in the middle of a vast prairie, alone.

"You did all you could, Dovepool," the gray-haired warrior said, encouragingly. "And I'm proud you told him about me."

"Thanks, Graystorm," Dovepool replied. "But I can't help but feel like I didn't do the right thing, by leaving the tribe. I realize now that Pikekit was better off in the tribe. But I can't take it back now, although I wish I could."

"Your choice to leave the forest was ultimately inevitable. You can't control what your instincts tell you to do. But that's now in the past. What matters now is what the future brings. As for Pikekit, only time can determine his fate."

"Chances are, he'll die out there too. He stands no chance of surviving on his own."

"Unless somehow he's found by someone else, and is cared for by them. But the chances of that happening are extremely low."

"I sure hope someone finds him out there, and takes him somewhere safe, and cares for him."

"I do too. He deserves a chance to truly live his life. But for now, all we can do is watch, and see what the future has to bring."

Graystorm comfortingly put an arm around his mate, and the two walked off into the starry mist.


	8. Willow Tree

The harsh blizzard wind howled loudly in Pikekit's ears. Needles of sleet cut through the air like tiny knives, piercing the kit's skin, and stinging his eyes.

Pikekit rubbed his eyes and kept going.

The brown-haired kit had been wandering aimlessly for the last couple of days, and the only time that the storm had let up at all was during the night after his mother's death. Even though it had only been a few days since his mother had died, the forces of nature had already begun to take their tole on the kit.

There was hardly a single thing to be found to eat, and the kit's rib cage was starting to show through his flesh. His body was numb from the cold. He was heavily fatigued, and his arms and his face were scarred with frostbite.

Slowly but surely was his health depleting with each passing day, and as he wandered through that empty prairie, with no sense of direction, he looked about, trying to find somewhere to shelter. But so far all he'd come across was endless fields of white.

As night approached, Pikekit stopped where he was and lay down on the ground. His stomach growled loudly. For a split second, he glanced down at his belly, then started digging in the snow. As soon as he saw grass poke up through the snow, he bit it off, and started chewing it. He'd begun to resort to trying to eat grass, in an effort to at least get something in his empty stomach, but it didn't do much. The grass under the snow was brown and dried up, and there was practically nothing to gain from eating it. But being only two years old, Pikekit was oblivious to this.

After he swallowed the grass, he lay back down, sprawling out on his side. He didn't have the strength to tightly curl himself up anymore. As he lay on the ground, the wind and snow beating his unprotected back, a single thought came to him.

 _I wonder what everyone is doing back in the forest._

* * *

Adderkit gloomily took a bite of her mouse as she ate alone in the nursery entrance.

Thornkit was no longer a member of Suntribe. He was with Watertribe now, leaving Adderkit as the only kit in the nursery. Blossomleaf sat outside, sharing tongues with Cedarbranch.

Cedarbranch was a tom who was rather short for his age, but had a rather muscular build. His hair was streaked brown and red, and his closely set eyes were pale green. He was a very well-respected warrior in the tribe, and he was Dovepool's father, although from the time she was only a year old, he'd temporarily taken on more of the role of a mother, after losing his mate and his other two kits to a mountain lion. Thus, Dovepool meant a whole lot to him.

As the two sat next to each other, Blossomleaf grooming herself, and Cedarbranch eating a vole, she told him what happened to Dovepool.

"...And as soon as she was out of the camp, she took off with Pikekit in her arms. I ran after her, asking where she was going. She told me the forest was too dangerous of a place for her to raise her son, and that she was taking him to somewhere safer. I told her she was crazy, and she stood no chance of surviving out in the wilderness, but she ignored me, and ran off. And Startribe knows where she is now. Or if she's even still alive."

Cedarbranch dipped his head.

"I'll probably never see her again."

"Or Pikekit," Blossomleaf added. "It's too bad he'll never get to know what it's like to be a warrior. He sure was a cute kit."

"I still remember those eyes of his. So dark and expressive. To look into his eyes was like looking into a pool of water. I don't think I'll ever see a kit born again with such dark blue eyes like that."

Cedarbranch paused, and took a bite of his vole.

"But what hurts me the most is the fact Dovepool left the tribe. Just took off like that. I understand her reason for leaving, but still, she belongs here, in Suntribe."

He suddenly stood up and started to head for the camp entrance.

"And I'm going to go look for her. She's my daughter, and I'm not about to go ahead and assume anything. Not yet."

* * *

Pikekit glanced about, desperately trying to find someplace to shelter. But he could hardly see anything through the thick sheets of snow, which was coming down even harder than before.

The night before had been a rather harsh one, with mother nature hurling its unforgiving elements at the little kit. The storm had raged on tirelessly, reaching its peak in strength, and Pikekit had woken up to find himself half-buried in tightly-packed snow. The process of digging himself out left him exhausted and unsteady on his feet.

Pikekit looked down and shook his head, scattering clumps of snow that had built up in his hair. Drops of blood also went flying, from a large patch of frostbite on the left side of his face. He briefly looked around, before continuing on his way.

Suddenly, as he was walking up a hill, his legs gave way from underneath him, and he collapsed onto his hands and knees on the ground. He'd become extremely weak over time, and it was at a point his legs would barely even support him anymore. Half-frozen and starving, he was about to just stop where he was, and give up...

When he spotted a vague silhouette out in a plain off in the distance. It appeared to be shaped like a tree of some kind. He didn't hesitate to get to his feet and quickly make his way over to it.

It was a massive willow tree, blanketed in snow. Its drooping branches were weighed down by the snow, to the point they made contact with the ground.

With his last bit of strength, the brown-haired kit walked up to the base of the tree, and lay down, grateful to have found somewhere he could get out of the freezing snow and wind. He nestled down into the snow, which, here under the tree was soft and light, unlike the hard, packed snow outside. It almost reminded him of his mother's nest in the nursery.

Pikekit tucked his head in his arms and closed his eyes, content, taking refuge under that lone willow tree.


	9. Palutena

Cedarbranch stood atop a hill and glanced out at the land, trying to see if he could spot any sign of his daughter, having gone out looking for her a few days ago. But all he saw was empty prairie.

All the snow made it increasingly difficult, as it hadn't been snowing very hard until Dovepool died, thus, the tracks she left behind the day she ran away would be hidden, unless someone stepped in the right spot, and found the snow to be unusually loose, and easily gave way, revealing well-trodden prairie grass.

Cedarbranch sighed, and kept going.

 _Oh Dovepool, where are you?_

After a few moments of walking, Cedarbranch felt his foot go down in the snow, like the grass was flattened here. The snow around his foot gave way as well. He walked around the area a bit, until he'd discovered a small circular patch where the grass had been flattened. The way it was flatter in random places indicated where a kit had been playing, chasing after something. Nearby was another patch of flat grass, which had the characteristics of where someone had laid down on their side.

 _Dovepool must've laid down, and watched Pikekit play here._

Taking note of this, he continued on. After several moments, Cedarbranch stepped on something sharp. It was buried in the snow, and the russet-haired tom had to dig it out. It was a necklace, its speckled blue beads glittering. An animal's tooth and two dove's feathers hung down in the middle of the necklace.

Cedarbranch just gazed at the necklace for a moment.

 _This...this is Dovepool's. I made this for her when she was an apprentice._

Looking out at the prairie, then back at the necklace, he felt sorrow started to build up inside him, making his heart ache. As it started to snow, he suddenly got a sense of what happened to his daughter.

 _Dovepool is gone. Gone and joined Startribe. Her son, Pikekit, is probably dead too. There's no way he could survive on his own long enough for someone to find him. Not that it's very likely someone would be out in a prairie like this in the middle of leaf-bare._

Cedarbranch dipped his head in grief, then turned and headed back to the forest.

* * *

A sudden gust of stronger wind surged by, swirling the snow around. Pikekit nestled down further in the soft snow, tucking his head deeper into his arms. Some of the snow settled in his hair as the gust of wind went away.

 _I can't keep going like this anymore. I'm cold, I'm hungry, and I have no idea where I am. I just can't keep going like this..._

 _I need help..._

As helpful as the shelter that willow tree provided was, even then was there little hope in the kit surviving. He was beyond caring for himself, and his only hope lay in the hands of someone else.

 _The one thing I wish for now is for someone to find me, to care for me, to love me. All I want now, is I want to be found._

Pikekit curled himself up even tighter, and shuddered, as the air grew even colder.

Suddenly, a wave of soothing warmth came over him, making him relax. He stopped shaking, and looked up, curiously.

A young goddess stood there gazing down at him. Her long green hair gently swayed in the wind. Her entire figure seemed to glow, and there was a nurturing look in her eyes.

Pikekit had never seen anything like her before. He sat up and continued to gaze at her, wondering who she was.

The young goddess reached forward, and picked him up, holding him in her arms. She gingerly traced her fingers along his face, where the frostbite was. At first, the little kit leaned his head away from her, but as soon as she touched him, he almost immediately found it to his liking. Her touch was gentle and comforting, like the nurturing touch of a young mother. A wave of warmth spread through the left side of his face. After a few seconds, it went away. Pikekit put the back of his hand to his face, and found the frostbite was gone. He turned his head and gazed up at the young goddess, curious and fascinated.

Suddenly, the air around him began to glow with a pure, white light that nearly blinded him. He could still feel the young goddess' soothing warmth lulling him. It felt good, that pure warmth, after spending many days in the frigid cold. After a few moments, he relaxed, his eyes shut, as he dozed off into a light sleep.

* * *

Upon returning to her temple in Skyworld, Palutena gazed at the little kit she held in her arms, who was now asleep. She ran her fingers through his thick brown hair, which was all scruffy and ragged-looking. She noticed the cowlick on the back of his head, and tried to comb it down, but the little kit apparently didn't like this, and was still somewhat aware, even though he was asleep, as he slightly shook his head in discomfort.

As she began healing the frostbite scars that were on his arms, a great number of questions entered her mind.

 _Where in the world did you come from? Where are your parents? And why weren't they with you? This isn't the first time I've come across a lone kit, but not like this. Even Keto had the close shelter of a holly bush. So how come you were out in such an open place?_

These were things she could not answer at the moment, and it wasn't the main concern. What was important now was what she was going to do with him.

Palutena went to a small room in her temple, and laid the little kit down in a sort of nest, made of soft cloth. Seeing how the little kit had curled up in the snow like a cat, she figured he didn't need much to sleep in. As soon as she put him down, he turned over onto his side, and loosely curled up.

As the young goddess knelt down, and started stroking the kit's head, she made up her mind on what she planned to do with the little kit.

 _I don't know where your parents are, or the rest of your kin... and that's why you're going to stay here, with me, until I find out. I'm only caring for you, until I can locate your parents, and return you to them. Your place is with them, but for now, you'll stay here, and then I'll return you to your family...where you rightfully belong._


	10. Skyworld

The rustling of foliage made Blossomleaf look up from the sparrow she was eating. The birch trees shadowing the camp entrance shook as Cedarbranch came into the camp, his head hung low.

The tribe's camp was now a gray hollow in the middle of the forest. Their old camp in the ravine was a place the tribe now called Snakerocks. After the fire, when a group of warriors had been sent to check the camp and make sure it was safe for the tribe to return, they found it was swarming with adders. Thus, the tribe was forced to find a new location for their camp, and chose to shelter in the hollow, where the tribe had initially been gathering certain medicine herbs from.

Upon seeing the red-haired tom, Blossomleaf pushed aside her sparrow and sat up.

"Cedarbranch, what happened? Where's Dovepool, and is she okay?"

Cedarbranch shook his head. He held up the necklace he'd found.

"Dovepool is gone. Her place is with Startribe now."

Blossomleaf hung her head in grief.

"I knew she stood no chance at surviving on her own, out there. She probably knew that just as well as I did. Just why did she have to leave and face death, when she could've stayed here in the forest, where she could actually live her life?"

"Pikekit would've been better off here in the forest too. It was his dream to become a warrior like his father. To think he'll probably never get to know what that's like."

Blossomleaf abruptly looked up at the mentioning of Pikekit.

"Speaking of which, where is Pikekit? Is he still alive?"

The tom shrugged.

"I don't know. I never did find any signs of Pikekit. But chances are, he's dead too. A kit his age wouldn't last very long on his own, at this time of year."

"Someone may have found him, and is caring for him somewhere," Blossomleaf prompted, trying her best to sound optimistic.

"I highly doubt that. No one in their right mind is going to be out in a prairie like that in the middle of leaf-bare."

Blossomleaf looked down sorrowfully and gave a slight nod. She knew just as well as Cedarbranch the chances that Pikekit was alive were so slim, almost not even possible.

As Cedarbranch walked away to tell Sunstar about what he discovered, Adderkit, who'd been listening, came up beside the light-haired queen, and lightly tugged on her arm to get her attention.

"My brother could still be alive, couldn't he?"

Blossomleaf averted her gaze to the red-haired kit.

"Maybe. I don't know, Adderkit. I just don't know."

* * *

There was a sweet smell in the air. Pikekit yawned, and slowly opened his eyes.  
He was laying in a nest made of a soft material of some kind. A patch of sunlight shone down on him, at an angle.

Confused by this, he sat up and looked around. He was in a circular room that was made of white and gold stone, decorated with intricate designs, colored a darker shade of gold. It appeared to be part of a temple. Pikekit glanced about, utterly bewildered, and with no idea where he was.

Suddenly remembering what had happened, he looked down at himself with a start.

The frostbite scars that were on his arms and his face was gone. His rib cage no longer showed through. His hair was groomed, and was now all soft and thick, like it used to be in the tribe. Even the cut in his ear was healed up, like it was never there.

Pikekit resumed looking around as his mind wandered to finding out where he was. After a few moments of looking, he discovered that the patch of sunlight shining down was coming from a large entrance-like opening that appeared to lead outside. Curious, he went over to it. The moment he stepped outside, the sheer sunlight almost blinded him.

Pikekit rapidly blinked for a moment at the intense glare. As his eyes adjusted to the bright light, his surroundings gradually came into view.

Towering behind him was a massive temple, made of the same white and gold stone as the room he'd been laying in. The sunlight gave the white stone a golden hue.

Looking up, Pikekit had never seen the sky as clearly as he did now. The blue sky stretched out as far as he could see, in every direction. It looked like it went on forever, with no start or end.

In the opposite direction of the temple, Pikekit saw dozens of islands floating in the sky. All of them had temple-like structures on them, again made of white and gold stone. Down below them was an ocean of clouds.

Pikekit had never seen a place like this before. He glanced around, curious and fascinated by it.

The sound of flapping wings distracted him. He looked up to see a small warrior flying above him. A pair of wings sprouted from the back of its head, from a golden helmet it was wearing, and it was wielding a bow and arrows.

Pikekit watched, intrigued, as the winged warrior flew away. That's when he realized that throughout the islands there were dozens of them, some flying, some standing on the islands. Some were larger than others, and wielding different weapons.

Suddenly, something floated down in front of Pikekit's face. He blinked for a second, confused, then he looked down. There on the ground in front of him was a white feather.

Pikekit curiously batted at the feather, and it floated up, then fluttered back down. Pikekit watched it, then quickly got into a playful mood, trying to get the feather before it hit the ground. At one point, he reared up, and caught it between his hands.

"You're such an easily-entertained little kid, aren't you?"

Pikekit turned to see the young goddess standing nearby. She'd been watching him play.

Pikekit sat up and looked at her, his eyes big with curiosity. There was a slight hint of fear in his gaze, but he wasn't entirely scared. It was the fact that the young goddess was a complete stranger to him, and that he was alone with her in an unknown place that slightly frightened him.

As if reading the little kit's mind, the young goddess reached forward and picked him up. She gently stroked his head.

"It's ok, little one. There's no need to be afraid of me. I am Palutena, the goddess of light. This region of the sky is my domain, known as Skyworld."

Palutena put the kit down. Another warrior flew by. Pikekit watched its every move, his eyes wide with fascination.

"Those warriors are members of my army," Palutena explained, noticing Pikekit's fascination over the winged warrior. "They're called Centurions."

Pikekit looked back at the young goddess, then watched as another centurion flew by. His gaze was fixed on the warrior's wings. He'd never seen a warrior with the ability to fly before.

 _I wish I could fly,_ he thought. _To know what it's like._

Suddenly, Pikekit felt the young goddess run her hand down the middle of his back. A burning sensation ran along his spine, gathering at his shoulder blades. Pikekit clenched his teeth as the feeling of something growing on his back shot through him. As the feeling faded away, Pikekit looked behind him, trying to see his back.

Sprouting from his shoulder blades was a pair of feathered wings. They were radiantly white, like the centurions', and exceeded the length of his arms.

Pikekit spread them out and lightly flapped them. He folded them across his back, then looked back at Palutena and smiled, knowing that he'd just found a new place to call home.

* * *

Palutena watched as the little kit resumed chasing after the feather, now with newly-grown wings on his back. But in the back of her mind she knew, while she may have given him these wings, she hadn't entirely fulfilled the kit's curiosity of wanting to know what it felt like to fly.

 _It might seem like I'm helping to fulfill your curiosity, but that is not true. You may have wings, but I'm not going to teach you to use them. When I return you to your family, I'll remove those wings, and I don't want you to get accustomed to being able to do something you wouldn't normally be able to do._


	11. Eyes of Water

"Cedarbranch, come up and tell the tribe of what you found."

Sunstar stood atop a boulder overlooking the camp. The tribe was gathered beneath it.

Cedarbranch stepped out of the crowd, climbed up onto the boulder, and stood beside Sunstar.

"Members of Suntribe, you are all well aware that my daughter, Dovepool, and her son, Pikekit, disappeared a few moons ago, shortly after the fire swept through our old camp. And I'm sure you're wondering where she is."

Cedarbranch took out Dovepool's necklace, and held it up for the tribe to see.

"I went out looking Dovepool a few days ago. All I found was this. This necklace is hers. It's the only sign I saw of her. Dovepool walks with Startribe now."

Much murmuring rose up from the group. A number of warriors dipped their heads in grief.

"What about Pikekit?" A voice rose up.

"I saw no sign of Pikekit. But chances are he's dead too. There's no way he could survive on his own for very long."

"Someone may have found him. He could still be alive."

"I doubt that," Cedarbranch responded. "No one in their right mind is going to be out in the middle of a prairie during leaf-bare."

"Thank you, Cedarbranch." Sunstar nodded at the russet-haired warrior, who nodded back, and resumed his position in the crowd.

Sunstar returned his gaze to the group.

"This is a devastating loss for the tribe. Tonight, we shall hold a mourning ritual for Dovepool, who was will to leave her tribe and risk death for the sake of her son, Pikekit, who will never truly know what it's like to be a warrior."

Sunstar leaped down from the boulder, and the crowd disbanded.

Cedarbranch joined up with Blossomleaf and Darkfang outside the nursery, in mourning over the loss of Dovepool and Pikekit. Adderkit was with Blossomleaf, sitting between the young queen's legs, tears streaming out of her eyes.

As he gazed up at Silverpelt, in grief, he couldn't help but in the back of his mind consider what that warrior had said.

 _What if he's right? What if someone_ did _find Pikekit, and he's still alive, safe and well cared for somewhere?_

* * *

 _The sky was dark with gray clouds. He was locked in combat with a silver-haired warrior, digging his claws into the warrior's chest. The warrior launched him backwards, sprang up, and pinned him down. Glaring at him through narrowed eyes, the silver-haired warrior clawed open his underbelly. He yowled in pain, before he grabbed his opponent by his shoulders and threw him sideways, onto the ground, where he clawed the warrior's face. The warrior yowled and took off._

 _He returned to the camp with the rest of the group. As the others told of the fight, he went to another part of the camp. Approaching the nursery, a young silver-haired queen, Dovepool, emerged from the entrance, her belly swollen with the kits she was expected to have soon._

 _Suddenly, as he was walking over to her, he felt really dizzy, like he was going to pass out, and collapsed onto the ground, his eyes closed. Blood was spurting from the scratches on his underbelly, and a pool of blood was starting to form underneath him._

 _"Graystorm!"_

 _Upon hearing her call his name, in distress, he softly moaned, and looked up at his mate, his eyes only halfway open. Dovepool knelt down and started tending the wounds on his underbelly, trying to stop the bleeding, but he feebly nudged her away, his strength fading. In the back of his mind, he knew he was dying, and there was no hope in saving him._

 _"No, Dovepool..." he said weakly, his voice barely audible. "there's nothing you can do for me now. I go to hunt with Startribe now..."_

 _"But Graystorm..." Dovepool softly patted her swollen belly. "what about our kits?"_

 _He closed his eyes as his senses began to go numb._

 _"You will know what to do when the time comes...raise them well for me, Dovepool."_

 _He went limp as the feeling of his body went away. After a few moments, he stopped breathing, and his mind went black._

* * *

Pikekit jolted awake. He was laying in his nest, in Palutena's temple. His heart was racing, and his whole body was tense. The room was dark, lit only by faint starlight.

For the last few weeks, he'd been having dreams like that. Every time, they were so vivid and tense, they felt as real memories. They always took place in parts of the forest he didn't recognize, yet felt extremely familiar. He recognized the names of the warriors he interacted with, and the scent of the tribe that clung to him. And he would always be referred to as 'Graystorm'. These dreams rather baffled him, and he couldn't think of a reason why he was having them.

 _They must mean something... but what? I recognize the name Graystorm, but...I don't know. And why is it my dreams seem so...real? It's like they're memories, but they're not mine. It doesn't make any sense...why am I having dreams like this?_

Suddenly, somewhere in the back of his mind, something clicked. He unconsciously stood up and headed outside.

He went to the edge of the island, and looked up at the sky. There was no moon, but countless stars glittered brightly.

As he gazed at the stars, he recalled something he remembered being told once.

 _Graystorm...was your father._

 _A few days before your birth, he took part in a fight over Sunboulders. He was fatally wounded in the fight, and died upon his return to the camp._

Turning the words over in his head, he recalled his dream, and suddenly realized that much of these words matched up with the events of his dream. Being fatally wounded in a fight, dying upon returning to the camp...they were the same. They matched up with each other.

Realizing this, something suddenly dawned on him, regarding his unusual dreams.

 _Could it be that my dreams_ are _memories? My father's memories?_

He continued to gaze at the night sky, tears welling up in his eyes. Realizing that in his mind he was experiencing everything his father had brought to him a feeling he'd never felt before. It was like a mix of fascination and sorrow. As his memories of the forest began to run through his head, he was unaware that he was being watched...

* * *

Palutena silently watched the kit as he left his room and headed outside, where he stood and stared up at the sky. At first, she thought he was just looking at the stars, but there was something about his gaze that seemed to indicate he wasn't really looking at anything. She started to approach him and say something to him, when she noticed something unusual, something she'd never seen before.

Like a pool of undisturbed water, the kit's dark blue eyes reflected the light of the stars. A mirror image of the night sky could be seen in the centers of his eyes. They were like deep pits of water in the ground, their smooth surface lit up with starlight.

Like a _pit_ of starlit water.

That's when it dawned on her. For quite some time, she hadn't called the little kit by any specific name, for she did not know what his given name was. But as time passed, and the kit's bond with her became closer, and the chances of someone looking for him rapidly diminished, she unconsciously knew she had to start calling him by a proper name, of which she could not think of.

But as she marveled at the site of his eyes reflecting the night sky, it occurred to her what she was to call him.

 _Pit...that's what I'll call him. His name is Pit, for his dark eyes that are like pits of water reflecting the stars._


	12. Startribe

The warm night air was alive with sounds from the forest. From the Great Sycamore, an owl's haunting calls rang out. The chirping of crickets echoed through the trees. A nightingale's whistling melody danced along a gentle breeze.

Cedarbranch sat in the camp, his ears twitching as he listened to all the night sounds. They reminded him very much of his old home in Nighttribe, each one bringing back long-forgotten memories; Being accompanied by an owl's ominous hoot while out hunting once, watching a pair of kits chase crickets, and hearing a nightingale's soothing tune fill the air when his mate, Fernshade, gave birth to Dovepool.

A sudden pang of sorrow gripped his heart at the thought of his daughter. Even though it was now Greenleaf, many moons after Dovepool had ran away, Cedarbranch found he still felt some grief over her. She had meant so much to him...

A sudden shadow cast over him made him look up. Blossomleaf stood there in front of him, a concerned expression on her face.

"Cedarbranch, are you okay?"

Slightly annoyed, the red-haired tom stood up and headed for the camp entrance. He was sick of being treated like he was helpless, in the sympathy and pity the whole tribe displayed in their interactions with him, for it didn't help him feel any better.

"Cedarbranch?" Blossomleaf prompted again, coming up behind him.

Cedarbranch stopped, but didn't look back. For a heartbeat, he wanted to turn her away, and leave, but at the same time, got the sense she wasn't at all being sympathetic. Blossomleaf never had been one to show any real sympathy or pity. Although somewhat hesitantly, he looked back at her.

"I'm fine. I just...I just need some time alone. You very well know why..."

Blossomleaf nodded in understanding, then turned and headed back to the nursery.

The moment Cedarbranch stepped out the camp, he took off in the direction of Fourtrees, his feet lightly impacting the ground. He didn't stop until he hit a spot of open field, near the corner of Suntribe's territory. The four great oaks could be seen straight ahead.

After a brief moment of letting himself catch his breath, he sat down in the grass, and looked up. Silverpelt glittered brightly in the dark sky, its innumerable stars shedding their silver light down on the forest.

 _Dovepool...I miss you so much. And I wish I knew if Pikekit is up there with you, in Startribe...or if he's still alive, safe and cherished somewhere...I wish I knew..._

Cedarbranch dipped his head slightly and closed his eyes. Suddenly, after a few moments, comforting warmth came over him as a familiar voice began softly whispering in his ears, as if she were right beside him.

"You need not to grieve over my son. He is alive. Alive and well-cared for. But the place he calls home now is far from anything the tribes have ever seen."

In the back of his mind, Cedarbranch saw an image of Pikekit, groomed and well-fed, happily chasing a feather. Growing from his back appeared to be a pair of small, feathered wings, radiantly white like the moonstone. Behind him appeared to be islands floating in the sky.

"Go well, father...I will walk with you always..."

As the last of her voice faded away, Cedarbranch opened his eyes, and gazed up at the night sky again. Looking almost straight up, he saw a single star begin to glow brighter than all the others. _Dovepool._ For a few moments, the tom just stood there, gazing at that one star, before turning and heading back towards the camp, a wave of relief washing over him.

 _Pikekit is alive. He was found, and is being well cared for somewhere. Somewhere that is completely unknown to the tribes, and isn't like anything the tribes have ever seen before, but the fact that Pikekit is alive is all that matters._


	13. Apprentices

Adderpaw dropped into a low crouch, her claws unsheathed on her left hand. With the precision of a cat on the hunt, she silently crept towards a sparrow standing on the ground.

She gathered up her legs, and pounced, catching the bird with her free hand. She just held it in her hand, tightly gripping its throat. The bird frantically beat its wings, letting out a strained cry of distress, before going limp.

"Well done, Adderpaw."

Adderpaw's mentor, Liontail, came up behind her. He was a tall, muscular warrior with dark golden hair that was coarse and thick, like lion's mane. His round eyes were a brilliant blue, like Pikekit's, although they weren't near as dark, or as expressive.

Adderpaw looked back at her mentor, and smiled slightly.

"Thanks, Liontail."

"You know, it feels rather awkward saying this now, but a part of me wishes that I had what it took to be able to hunt like how your mother did."

How Adderpaw had caught and killed that sparrow was a unique hunting technique only a select few warriors in Suntribe were known to be able to use. The vast majority of warriors would catch their prey, and kill it with their claws. But there were some who had the reflexes, strength and knowledge about their prey to be able to catch it the right way, and simply kill it by strangling it to death. It was not entirely a teachable skill; you had to have been born with the reflexes to be able to quickly grab the prey by its neck upon capture. Among those who were known to have the physical capabilities of using this hunting tactic was Dovepool.

"I'm sure a lot of warriors do. It doesn't ruin the prey as much as using your claws."

"As well as being able to pounce like that. It's not the same as just pouncing normally. It would be a useful battle move."

"I can imagine it would," Adderpaw remarked amusingly. "I remember using it on Thornkit dozens of times."

"I've seen Pikekit do it too. When you were play-fighting with him, the day he was attacked by those adders. I saw you playing with him. The way he jumped on you was reminiscent of that kind of pounce."

Adderpaw looked down at the ground, as a small feeling of sorrow began to rise up in her heart. It still hurt her inside to think about her brother, who the tribe had believed to be dead. Deep down, she knew that it was long past the time she should've let go of her feelings, but not knowing what had truly happened to her brother, and if he was dead or alive kept her from doing so.

Liontail suddenly came up and put his hand on her shoulder.

"You okay?"

"Yeah. It's just...I wish I could go and find out what really happened to my brother. Where he is, and if he's alive or not. I mean, he could very well still be alive, and we don't know it."

"I hate to be a bit of a pessimist, but the odds of him still being alive are extremely low. And even if you do find him, chances are he won't remember you, or the forest. Don't forget, he was only here for the first two years of his life. And he knew you for half that time. It's more likely than not that he has completely forgotten you, and everyone else."

Adderpaw closed her eyes for a moment, then looked up at her mentor.

"Do you think anyone will find out what happened to Pikekit?"

"Probably not. The whole tribe has pretty much forgotten him, and ceased to care. Only you, Cedarstar and Darkfang still truly care about him. And like I said before, even if we do cross paths with him again, chances are he won't remember us, or the forest and its tribes, even more so that he was brought into the world among our ranks."

"Yeah...I really miss him, though. He was the only brother I ever had. It was hard enough for me to face losing my mother, but then to lose my brother too...and not know what happened to him..."

"I understand. It's not easy to cope with such loss, combined with being unable to know the unknown." Liontail's voice took on a more encouraging tone. "But whether he's forgotten us or not, he's still a forest warrior at heart, and tribal blood will always run in his veins. I wouldn't be surprised if he still instinctively behaves and thinks like a warrior, retaining many aspects of our way of life, and is putting them to use..."

* * *

Pit instinctively dropped down into a crouch, tense, ready to spring. A low growl rose in his throat. The young angel in front of him did the same, his silvery wings partially spread out.

For a moment, they stood there, facing one another, each waiting for the other to make their move.

Finally, the young angel took the initiative, and charged at his opponent. Pit let out a loud yowl, and pounced. The two collided with each other head-on, but Pit had more force in his jump, and knocked back his opponent. The two wrestled with each other, until Pit was able to pin him down.

Pit stepped back to let the young angel get up. He shook his head, half-stunned from the head-on collision.

"That was an interesting move you made, Pit," the young angel remarked. "Where'd you learn how to jump like that?"

"I didn't. It just came to me."

"I see." The young angel stood up and spread his wings out. "I'm going to go join up with the others. See you later, Pit."

As the young angel flew away, Pit instinctively pricked his ears. He sensed someone coming up behind him.

"I know you're there," he said, not turning his head to look behind him.

Palutena was approaching him, after watching him practice fighting with the young angel. She stopped when Pit sensed she was behind him.

"Pit, I need to ask you something."

Pit turned around and nodded as a gesture to show he was paying attention.

Palutena knelt down and put her hand on his shoulder.

"Where are your parents? And the rest of your family? I would think they'd be looking all over for you."

Pit tilted his head and gave her a bewildered look. "Why do you ask?"

At that, Palutena found herself lost on how to reply. She hadn't prepared to explain that she hadn't intended on keeping him. She hadn't expected to end up caring for him for so long, but Pit was oblivious to this, and thus, rather baffling it was to him, for Palutena to be bringing up the subject of his family now.

"When I brought you here to Skyworld, I didn't intend on keeping you. My plan was to care for you until I located your family, in which I would then give you back to them. You belong with your kin, not with me, and since I can't find your family, I thought I ask you."

Pit just gazed at her for a moment. He then dipped his head, deep in thought.

"I have no kin. And the rest of my family probably thinks I'm dead, because of that."

"What do you mean, you have no kin? You have parents, don't you?"

Pit shook his head.

"Not living ones. Both my mother and father are dead."

That utterly shocked her.

"What happened to them? You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

The young angel was silent for a moment.

"My father died in a battle before I was born. As for my mother...she was...very protective over me..."

Pit felt a lump of emotion form in his throat, and he swallowed in an effort to keep himself from losing it entirely.

"At one point, she thought my old home was too dangerous for me to be raised there, so she took me and ran away...to find somewhere else to care for me...and she ended up...freezing to death..."

A pang of grief and sorrow suddenly stabbed his heart, as his memories of waking up and finding his mother dead began to fill the back of his mind. Unable to contain his emotions anymore, he slowly went up to the young goddess and climbed onto her lap, much to her surprise. He buried his face in her chest, and started crying. Recalling his kithood memories was bringing back the emotions he'd experienced then, and making him experience them again.

Pit felt the young goddess put her arms around him, and begin stroking his head. He raised his head a bit, and looked up, and his gaze directly met Palutena's, who gave him a look of both comfort and concern.

"You know you didn't have to tell me what happened to your kin, if you didn't want to...So why did you put yourself through this to tell me?"

Pit partially opened his mouth to say something, but then quickly shut it. There was no way to explain his emotional recalls to anyone, in a way that they would really understand. Only he alone knew what it felt like, and he had no way of getting others to share that knowledge. Palutena just nodded once at him, having picked up this cue, then held the young angel close to her, and resumed stroking his head.

After a few comforting moments, Palutena loosened her hold on the young angel, and gazed down at him.

"Can you at least tell me where you came from? Where you were born?"

Pit just nodded slightly, the only immediate response he could manage.

"I...I was born in part of a forest, to a tribe that lived there, called Suntribe. One of four tribes that lived in the forest. The others were Nighttribe, Skytribe, and Watertribe. Each of them have their own territory that they defended. Suntribe had a territory that consisted of woodland, where we hunted rodents and songbirds. My mother was one of the best hunters in the tribe."

"What was your mother's name?"

For a split second, there was a slight hint of emotion in his eyes, but it faded away quickly.

"Dovepool."

"Interesting name."

"Yeah, the tribes use a rather interesting name system, at least from a loner's point of view. The first half of our names come from something in particular that our mother sees at the time we're born, or something exceptionally unique about our appearance. The other half is based on one's role in the tribe. When I was still living in the forest, the tribe called me Pikekit, even though that's a Watertribe name. But then my father, Graystorm, was half-Watertribe, so there's a reason behind my name."

Palutena thought of what she wanted to say for a moment.

"What would they call you if you'd grown up in the tribe?"

"My warrior name? Piketooth. At least that's what Darkfang told me."

The name Darkfang rather confused her, as she did not know who Darkfang was, but nonetheless, she'd gotten the information she'd wanted out of him. She gently lifted him off her lap, and set him on the ground.

"Alright Pit, you can go. You've given me all the information I need to know. Why don't you go see what Keto's up to. He might be the intelligent one of all my angel followers, but he's also a real mischief-maker, if I ever saw one." The young goddess chuckled amusingly.

Pit looked back at her, and smiled, before running off in the direction Keto had gone, in search of his friend. As she watched the young angel take off, she couldn't help but think this wasn't the first time she'd met someone who'd been born in the forest.


	14. Flightless

The setting sun began to dip below the horizon and the deep crimson sky took on a violet hue. Adderpaw stood on the river shore, alone. The river reflected the sunset, a ribbon of crimson-violet cutting through the land.

Adderpaw bent forward and looked down at her reflection. Her tufted bangs and well-rounded face reminded her of Pikekit. _I just wish I knew if you were alive, Pikekit. I wish I knew._

Suddenly, ripples went across the water, obscuring her reflection. As they faded away, Adderpaw was shocked to see that the reflection in the water was no longer hers.

In place of her reflection was the face of a tom the same age as her, if not a year younger. He had a rounded face, like her, though his eyes were farther apart, and dark blue in color. His hair was a rich shade of brown and lay in thick tufts. He had a determined look in his eyes and sprouting from his back were a pair of feathered wings.

 _He looks a lot like Pikekit,_ Adderpaw thought as she gazed down at the image. A gentle breeze picked up as a voice whispered in her ears.

"Take heed of what you have seen, Adderpaw."

Adderpaw looked around, but saw no one. As the voice drifted away, ripples went across the water, and the image was once again her reflection.

* * *

Keto stood crouched down, slowly creeping up on Pit from behind, who stood outside, looking up at the night sky. He'd spoke of a desire to learn some of the techniques Pit had used on him a few days ago, and Pit hadn't hesitated to teach him.

Keto was one of Palutena's angel followers, who Pit had recently been introduced to. After finding out his main connections to his family were gone, she had decided to introduce him to her other angel followers. Pit's introduction to them had initially been rather awkward, due to Pit not being properly socialized early on, but thankfully, Keto stepped in and helped to smooth things out. It was also somewhat intimidating to Pit, as the others were all significantly older than him. Even Keto, who was the youngest of them, was two years ahead of Pit. But nonetheless, the others were quick to warm up to him, and he was able to find a close friend in many of them.

Using his wings to help him, he jumped, but Pit knew he was there. He swiftly turned around, and pounced, much to Keto's surprise. Pit knocked him back and easily pinned him down. Keto grabbed Pit by his shoulders and threw him sideways. He then sprang up, and towered over Pit. Pit gathered his legs and launched the young angel back. He jumped to land on him, but Keto reached up and hit Pit's underbelly, causing him to go tumbling forward.

Keto turned over onto his belly when he heard a loud cry for help. Alarmed, he got up and looked down, to see Pit falling from the sky, having been knocked off the island he and Keto were play-fighting on.

"Pit, use your wings, and try to fly!" Keto called down to him.

Upon hearing the young angel telling him to fly, Pit was completely lost on what to do. He'd never been taught how to fly, and therefore it only further complicated things when Keto told him to make an attempt to. Completely clueless, all he could do was beat his wings helplessly as he fell, with absolutely no knowledge of how to properly use them.

Keto was about to jump down and try to rescue Pit, when he saw a centurion swoop down and hover underneath the falling angel. Pit landed in the winged warrior's arms. Firmly holding onto him, the centurion flew back up to the island where Keto was, and set the young angel down on the ground, before flying off.

Pit just stood there for a moment, his eyes distant and staring at nothing. He unsteadily took a step back, stumbled, and fell sideways. Keto went up to him.

"Pit, are you okay?"

Pit just turned his head and looked up at the angel. Upon meeting Pit's gaze, Keto realized that there had been no need to ask that question.

Pit looked half-terrified. His breathing was shaky, and loud enough for Keto to hear. His widened eyes held a look of pure shock, and he was trembling with fear.

Keto reached forward and gingerly brushed the tips of Pit's wings.

"How come you didn't use your wings?"

Pit looked back at his wings. He spread them out and lightly flapped them.

"I-I did."

Keto tilted his head, confused.

"Then how come-"

"Pit..." Palutena came up behind them, having been aroused by Pit's cries for help. "It's time I explained something to you. Something personal."

Pit stood up and went up to the young goddess. Keto took off into the night, his silvery wings appearing to glow in the bright moonlight.

For a moment, Palutena was silent. She knew the decision she'd made about not teaching him how to fly would end up leading to a situation like this, but she hadn't entirely prepared for it.

"I know that this is going to be a hard thing for you to learn, and to be honest, I'm not sure how you'll react to it, but...you may have wings Pit, but you can't fly with them."

Pit just stared at her, in disbelief. He looked back at his wings, then at Palutena.

"Then why do I have them? What's the point if I can't fly with them?"

Palutena was slightly taken aback by Pit's sudden anger spark, but she remained calm.

"You'll find a purpose in them, Pit. They'll be of use when the time comes."

Pit stared at her, then took off running.  
He went and curled up in his nest, where he gazed at his wings as he thought about what he'd just been told.

 _What's the point of me having wings if I can't fly with them? What other purpose would they serve? And why can Keto and all the others fly, and I can't?_

Infuriated, Pit reached behind him and started ripping handfuls of feathers out of his wings. It hurt slightly, but he didn't care.

Suddenly, as he pulled out a bunch of feathers from his left wing, his wing started to sting terribly, and blood started dripping down his wing. His right wing was bleeding, too. Pit recoiled his wings, and shuddered as excruciating pain shot up his spine.  
Bracing himself, he then lay down, tucking his head between his arms. Tears were running out of his eyes. He wasn't crying, but the sheer pain was making his eyes water.

Suddenly, Palutena's voice came to his ears.

"Pit..."

Pit looked up to see the young goddess standing there.

Palutena reached forward and picked him up. She gazed at his torn-up wings. She then gently stroked them, running her fingers along the strip of feathers on both of his wings that were stained red with blood.

Pit felt a ripple of warmth go through him, and his wings flashed with a brilliant white light. As the light died away, Pit was surprised to see that his wings were healed. They were once again radiantly white, like the centurions', and longer than his arms.

Palutena put him down, in his nest. Pit curled up, neatly folding his wings across his back. He then looked up at the young goddess.

She then knelt down and put one hand on Pit's shoulder.

"Pit...you may think your wings are useless, but in truth, they're more than just wings. They're _your_ wings. They're a part of you, and have just as much use as any other part of your body. You have use, and a need for your wings, Pit. In time, they will prove their worth to you."

Pit looked at her and didn't respond. Palutena was half expecting him to go through another spark of anger again, but he didn't. Instead, he just nodded and rested his head down between his arms, his eyes closed. Palutena watched as he loosened his wings, letting them droop down and cover his sides and his shoulders. He nestled his head down further between his arms, and his breathing slowed down as he dozed off.


	15. Shattered Peace

**Hello readers. Just wanted to let you know the next couple of chapters (including this one) are going to take place prior to the events of the original _Kid Icarus_ game for the NES. I felt that the events of that game played a huge role in Pit's life, and really contributed to shaping his character.**

 **This** **chapter just first sets the game's storyline into motion. I hope you enjoy it, and what's to come, and don't forget to leave a review along the way.**

 **Have a good read, people!**

Pit reared up as the wind blew the feather over his head. He reached up, and swatted at it, trying to catch it. For a heartbeat, he thought he had it, but then a gentle gust of wind blew the feather out from under his hand, and he got nothing. He let out a tiny growl, then reared up again.

Despite being an eight-year-old apprentice, he still found enjoyment in chasing after insignificant things in nature, like he used to as a kit.

Pit jumped up and grabbed the feather out of the air. He stood there crouched down, gazing at the feather.

Suddenly, someone jumped on him from behind. Pit yelped, surprised, and instinctively jolted upright, jabbing the person with his shoulders. He then whipped around, his nerves tense and ready for a fight, only to find it was Keto. The young angel was laughing hysterically.

"I gotcha that time, didn't I?"

Sneaking up on Pit wasn't easy, thanks to his sharp senses, particularly his sense of hearing, a trait he'd inherited from his mother, Dovepool. It took real skill to be able to catch him by surprise.

"You've got nothing better to do, huh?"

"I'm certainly not like you. You can find entertainment in pretty much anything."

Keto gestured to the feather that was on the ground nearby.

"Were you always as easily entertained? In the place you were born?"

Pit hesitated. It had been forever since anyone had brought up the subject of where he came from, and his memories of his home in the forest were starting to fade away.

"I-I remember chasing after a moth the first time I went outside."

"I see. Where were you born, anyway?"

Pit looked down slightly. He was about to say something when a bolt of lightning flashed across the sky, and struck the ground not far from the two angels, knocking them back. As Pit got to his feet, he looked up to see the bright sky above be plunged into shadow by menacing black storm clouds. Thunder rumbled loudly in his ears.

Suddenly, a monstrous roar sounded over the thunder. Pit watched as hordes of monsters started descending out of the sky, in groups.

Some of them were small, round creatures with four tentacles coming out of the back of their bodies, some orange and with a single large eye in the middle of its head, and others green with huge mouths. Some were blue serpentine dragons with little feathery wings and long fangs. Some were frog-like monsters with feathered wings and a single, glowing red eye. Some appeared to be half-bird, half-human, with fiery orange bird wings and tail, and a woman's head and body.

Pit stood rooted where he was, watching the monsters. He'd never seen such creatures with such variety before, much less in great numbers, like this. It actually rather fascinated him.

Suddenly, a trio of half-human, half-bird monsters flew towards where Pit was. Pit looked at them, curiously, wondering what they were. Then, to his surprise, one of them dove down, its talons gleaning. Scared, Pit started to run, but the creature was faster, its sharp talons digging into Pit's shoulder blades as it pinned him to the ground. The other two started tearing at his wings, which were spread out wide. Pit instinctively started twisting and writhing about, trying to get away, but the creature had him pinned. Unable to free himself, all he could do was helplessly struggle, crying out desperately for help.

As if in response, a streak of white and gold flew by, and knocked away the creature tearing at his right wing. It was a centurion, moderately sized, and wielding a halberd.

As the creature got up, snarling, the centurion took a mighty swing with its weapon, and severed the creature's head from its body. The decapitated creature disappeared in a flash of dark violet energy. The centurion then went after the other two, of which had been aroused by the killing of the first one. The centurion killed them both.

Pit slowly got up, his shoulders hunched. The upper portion of his back was throbbing with pain, and his wings stung horribly, from being badly torn up.

The centurion suddenly came up to Pit, and gestured for him to get on the warrior's back. He didn't hesitate to do so, and the centurion took off.

The winged warrior flew to a chamber in the temple. Palutena was there, along with Keto and Palutena's other angel followers. The centurion hovered close to the ground, and Pit slid off of him. As the warrior flew off, Pit turned to Keto, who had a shocked look on his face.

"Pit, what happened to you? Your back is all torn up, and bleeding."

Pit turned his head, making some effort to see his backside. And what he saw almost scared him.

Blood was pulsing heavily out of the scratches where the creature had dug its talons in, staining his back red. His wings were badly torn up, and their undersides were coated in blood. Streams of crimson ran down his back, and were starting to go down the back of his legs.

Palutena quickly picked him up and stroked his wings, starting at his shoulder blades, in between where his wings connected to his back, then set him back down on the ground. Warmth went through his wings, and along his spine. His wings were healed, and the wounds on his back were gone.

Suddenly, a loud battle-cry sounded from outside. Palutena started to head outside, but stopped when she noticed that Pit was following her. She shook her head at him.

"No Pit, you stay in here. Outside is not where you want to be."

The angel tilted his head in curiosity.

"Why? What's going on? And what are those creatures out there?"

"It's complicated. I don't have time to explain things to you, Pit."

The young goddess then left.


	16. Captured

Pit watched the young goddess leave. He wanted to know what was going on, and why. And what those creatures outside were.

Understanding Pit's curiosity, Keto went up beside him, and explained it all to him.

"Those creatures out there were created by the Underworld goddess, Medusa. Medusa used to be affiliated with Palutena, but was turned into a monster by her, and banished to the Underworld.

The creatures can come in pretty much any shape and form, as you saw, and have many names. The ones that attacked you, those half-human, half-bird, are called Syrens."

"Oh," Pit nodded, in understanding. "What are some of the others? I've never seen anything like them before."

Keto looked thoughtful for a moment.

"Well, like I said, they can come in pretty much any shape and form, but I can tell you of the ones here."

Keto led Pit to an entrance to the room.

"Like I said before, the half-human, half-bird ones are Syrens. The serpentine dragons are Shemums. The frog-like ones are Kerons. The green creatures with big mouths are Miks. And the orange one-eyed ones are Monoeyes. There's lots of others, but I couldn't tell you them all."

"Oh. Thanks, Keto."

Pit stood in the entrance, watching. Everywhere he looked outside he saw centurions and monsters fighting. Lightning flashed in the sky as if to signal for more of the creatures to come join the fight.

Suddenly, in the sky, an astral projection of a goddess appeared.

Her skin was scaly and pale, with a light green hue, like a snake's skin, and she had a single eye in the middle of her forehead. Emerald green serpents as hair emerged from her head, their tongues flicking out and their tails twitching, alert and ready to strike. One of the snakes was bright orange.

"Now Palutena, it's time I took revenge for what you did to me. I've been waiting for this moment."

"I'll never let you take over Skyworld!" Palutena's voice rang out clearly over the noise of the battle. Pit couldn't see the young goddess, but he could hear her. "You're finished, Medusa! No matter what, you'll always be an Underworld goddess!"

"Very well." As the astral projection began to fade away, Medusa made a signal with her hand to attack. More groups of monsters emerged from the clouds. At the same time, Palutena ordered another group of centurions to jump into the fray.

Suddenly, a group of monsters came into the room, where Pit and the other angels were. They were a mix of a group of Miks, and bands of Syrens. A group of another kind of monster followed.

The creatures had skull-like bodies, and a huge glowing red eye in the middle of their heads. Four spider-like legs emerged from under their bodies. _Ganewmedes_ , Keto remarked.

Two of the Syrens went after Pit, pinning him to the ground. They held him down by his wings, pinning him on his back.

While the two Syrens took care of Pit, The other monsters went for Keto and the other angel followers. A small group of centurions came to help drive away the creatures, but there were so many monsters that even with the centurion's help, they were outnumbered.

One by one, the monsters killed off each of Palutena's angel followers, until Keto and Pit were the only ones left.

Pit drove off another Syren, clawing madly at its wings. He was about go after another, when he was pinned down from behind by a huge Ganewmede. The creature drove two of its spindly legs into his shoulders, and another into the back of his right arm. Pit looked back just in time to see the creature put its fourth leg to the back of his neck. The creature started driving its leg into his flesh, sending waves of pain down his spine.

Suddenly, Pit saw a streak of black and silver go by, knocking away the Ganewmede. It was Keto.

Keto crouched down, his wings folded, and pounced on the creature. In one swift motion, he cut off one of the monster's legs. He then took a bow from behind his back and fired an arrow into the creature's eye. He put the bow away, then charged, and smashed the creature into pieces of bone. Keto pumped his fist in triumph.

A loud, screeching hiss aroused him, and a Shemum flew into the room. Before Keto could do anything, the winged snake tightly wrapped its long tail around him, and lifted him off the ground. As he helplessly writhed and twisted around, trying to get free, the serpent turned its head around, and its yellow eyes gleamed devilishly as it sunk its fangs into the angel's exposed throat.

Keto coughed and gasped, in a desperate struggle to breathe. But it wasn't for very long that he could fight back, as blood started to drip out of his mouth, and he began to cough up more of the dark liquid. Upon tasting this fresh blood, the Shemum released its grip on the angel's throat, dropped him, and flew away.

"Keto!" Pit ran over to him, and got down in front of him. The young angel broke off into a coughing fit, his whole body twitching as he coughed, before partially opening his eyes and wearily looking up at Pit.

Blood was spilling out of his mouth, forming a puddle of crimson underneath him, and his breath smelled strongly of carrion. He could barely lift his head up, weak from how much blood he was losing, and his breathing was faint.

For a moment, Keto just gazed at Pit, his eyes dull and clouded, before resting his head down again, and closing his eyes.

 _Goodbye Pit,_ he said softly, the fresh blood in his mouth spurting out onto the ground as he spoke. The young angel went limp, and his breathing got fainter and fainter, until it stopped completely. Pit closed his eyes and dipped his head in grief.

Suddenly, a Syren flew into the room, but Pit didn't notice it coming. With a terrifying screech, the creature swooped down, grabbed Pit by his shoulders, and picked him up off the ground. The creature carried him outside, and over to an astral projection of the dark goddess.

"Huh. An angel who can't fly on his own. You're not as much of a threat to me, but I'm not about to risk the chance of you rising up against me."

Medusa made a gesture, and a black hole in the sky appeared. As the Syren began to fly into the yawning darkness, Pit started writhing about, crying out for help. In response, the creature dug its talons deep into the angel's shoulders. Pit jerked at the sharp pain, but almost immediately settled and went limp as utter blackness engulfed his mind.

The Syren continued its journey into the black hole, and as soon as it vanished with Pit into the dark void, the hole closed behind them.


	17. Imprisoned in the Underworld

Pit slowly opened his eyes. His vision was clouded and blurred, and he couldn't make out where he was. His entire body ached terribly, and his limbs were stiff, and creaked in protest as he rose into a sitting position. Feeling around, he found that the ground underneath him was hard and stone cold. He felt sore all over and had no idea where he was.

As he blinked intently, his vision suddenly cleared up, and he didn't hesitate to look around.

He was laying on the ground of what looked to be a den of some kind. Behind him was a dark gray-violet wall of stone, that looked like a massive cliff face. It rose high into the air, and faded into pitch blackness. The walls were made of a series of rib-like bones, their tips embedded in the ground. They arched up over his head, and connected to a round ledge protruding from the stone wall, forming a sort of dome, like the top of a round cage. The bones were skinny, but close together, and the gaps in between them were only just barely wide enough for him to squeeze his arm through.

Looking through the gaps, the landscape looked rugged and cliff-like, rife with dips and ridges. The ground was dark gray-violet also, and faded into darkness a few feet out.

 _This isn't a den,_ he realized. _This is a prison._

He shakily stood up and began searching around, trying to find a way he could escape. He tried forcing himself through the cracks in the bones, but only succeeded in twisting his left arm at an odd angle, to where he felt like his arm was going to snap. He thrust himself back inside his prison, with such force that he flipped over backwards, and hit his head on the stone wall, hard. He sat up a bit, and shook his head, dazed.

Suddenly, as he glanced around, he spotted Medusa approaching his prison. She stopped less than a foot away, and gazed down coldly at the trapped angel. Pit looked directly back at her, fear crawling up his spine.

"Well, looks like you angel followers can be tougher than you look. Kind of impressed, actually. Especially for a flightless one."

Pit sat up.

"What is it you want from me?"

"From you? Right now, just the fact you're trapped here. I can just see it you are capable of rising up against me, and I'm not about to risk that happening."

"If that's so, then why don't you finish me off? You killed off all the others."

Medusa took a step back, appearing to partially melt away into the darkness. She loosely closed her hand into a fist.

"There is something I must show you..."

She held her hand out, and opened her palm. A ball of icy blue light flew out from her hand, and began to materialize into the shape of a flying angel as it fell towards the ground. As the shape landed, the light died away, revealing itself.

It was an angel, two years older than Pit. His long hair was jet black, and his bangs were so long they almost hung down in front of his eyes. His wings were silver with an icy blue hue. The whole of his figure was slightly translucent, and almost seemed to glow.

It was Keto.

The black-haired angel walked up to the prison and, much to Pit's surprise, went right through the bones, like they weren't even there. He stopped a few inches away from Pit, who reached out to try and touch the angel.

But Keto shook his head, his gaze cold and expressionless.

"I am only a spirit, Pit. You cannot touch me."

Pit ignored this, and reached out further. After witnessing Keto's death, just to see the young angel again was enough to trigger his emotions.

He continued to extend his hand towards the black-haired angel, who did not make a single move. He went to touch Keto's hand...

Only for his own hand to go right through the angel. Keto wasn't really anything; there was nothing solid, nothing to touch. It was just an image, an illusion. Pit retracted his hand, in shock, and looked up at the angel.

Keto took a step back.

"I came here to tell you that all hope is gone, Pit. Like you, Palutena has been imprisoned. You're the only one left alive..."

As his voice trailed off, Keto began to fade away, until he was gone.

Medusa stepped out of the shadows, and gazed down at the angel, who stared up at her, utterly shocked by what he'd just learned.

"Why did you do this?"

The dark goddess smirked evilly.

"The true thing I want from you...is I want you to suffer. So I'm making you watch as I crush everything, and everyone, you love. And don't think Palutena can help you. She's just as helpless as you, little angel."

Medusa then turned and disappeared into the darkness, leaving Pit alone in his prison in the deepest region of the Underworld.


	18. Spark of Hope

"Don't touch me!"

Pit crouched down in a corner of his prison, his wings partially out, concealing the sides of his body. His dark blue eyes blazed with defiance. Medusa ignored his stubbornness, and continued to edge a clawed finger at the angel, trying to touch him.

Much time had passed since the battle that had led to Pit's imprisonment in the underworld.

For the first couple of days, Pit had made some effort to try and escape from his prison, but only succeeded in dislocating his right shoulder, and had ceased trying. He gradually lost all sense of hope, and had become somewhat depressed, thoroughly convinced that he'd lost his home in Skyworld.

Medusa had begun to find it entertaining to toy with the angel, doing things he didn't like, particularly trying to touch him. She knew that he could do nothing against her. Pit knew that just as well, but it didn't stop him from continuing to hold onto his defiance towards her.

"Just get away from me!"

As Medusa got closer to him, Pit got down even closer to the ground. Ignoring the throbbing pain in his dislocated shoulder, he snarled and lashed out at the goddess, scratching her. Medusa pretended to be surprised.

"Some nerve you've got. I'm surprised you haven't even showed any signs of giving in."

"And I never will!" the angel retorted.

"Hm. We'll see about that..."

Medusa turned her hand over, so her palm was facing up, and reached around behind Pit. The angel turned to get away from her, but Medusa was quicker, hooking the claw of her finger on his back, re-opening the wounds on his back leftover from the battle.

Pit cried out in pain. Despite how much time had gone by, the wounds on his back still hadn't healed completely, and the upper region of his back, especially near where his wings sprouted from his shoulder blades, was sensitive as a result.

Medusa smiled evilly, and lifted Pit off the ground by his back. Excruciating pain shot down his spine. Suddenly too scared to think, he started squirming about, pleading that the dark goddess let go of him. But each movement only made the goddess' claw dig deeper into his back.

"P-put me down...you're hurting me!"

For a long time, she just held him there, suspended in the air by his back. Blood was spurting out of the wound, staining the whole of his backside crimson.

Suddenly, Pit jerked his body, and unexpectedly fell to the ground. A long strip of flesh had been torn off of his back, between his wings. Blood heavily dripped down his sides, and started to collect on the ground underneath him.

Pit lay there for a long moment, not moving. He was laying on his belly, his blood-soaked wings down at his sides. A pool of blood had formed underneath him, staining his underside red. His back was trembling with pain, and shakily rising and falling as he breathed.

After awhile, Pit softly whimpered, and slowly lifted his head up. There was a look of fear in his eyes.

"Wh-Why'd you do that? That h-hurt."

"That's just it. I can do what I want with you, and you can't do anything about it. Face it, Pit. You've got nothing. And no one."

Medusa then disappeared into the darkness.

Pit watched the dark goddess disappear. He then rested his head down again, turned over on to his side, and folded his wings across his back. His hands were tightly clenched in fists, his body tense, as waves of excruciating pain rippled through him. He was still lying in the pool of his blood. He was in too much pain to get up.

Pit closed his eyes and clenched his teeth. He didn't think he'd ever felt something that hurt as badly as his back did now. Even growing his wings hadn't hurt this much. Scared and in serious pain, Pit made some effort to relax and ignore how much his back was hurting.

* * *

A soft voice speaking in his mind aroused him.

"Pit..."

It was Palutena.

At the sound of her voice, Pit felt a wave of relief go over him, and his tense nerves loosened up.

"Palutena...I-I can't even remember the last time I even saw you...but how can this be, that you can talk to me? I thought you were-"

"Imprisoned, yes," the goddess replied, completing his thoughts. "And it's still that way now. But that doesn't stop me from being able to communicate with you." Her voice then hardened. "Pit, there's something I need to do. No matter what the circumstances, you have to escape from your prison and make your way back to Skyworld."

That somewhat confused him.

"But why? What reason do I have to go back? Skyworld has been lost-"

"Pit, you are wrong. You only think that, because Medusa convinced you that your home was lost, and that you were the sole survivor. But that is not true. You may not realize it, but a spark of hope has survived with you, and thus, Skyworld has not been truly lost."

Pit turned the words over in his head.

"What are you asking me to do?"

"Escape from your prison, and defeat Medusa's minions, who guard the Three Sacred Treasures. Arm yourself, make your way back to Skyworld, and take down Medusa. Her defeat will mean taking back what is rightfully ours, and you are the only one who has what it takes to do this. To help you on your journey through the Underworld, I've gifted you with a magical bow, and I trust you will know what do. I'm counting on you, Pit."

* * *

Pit rubbed his eyes and slowly blinked them open. He thought about what he'd heard from Palutena, and briefly swept his gaze across the floor of his prison. As he looked out in front of him, he saw it.

Laying on the ground nearby was a bow, similar to the one he'd seen Keto use just moments before the incident that led to his death.

But unlike Keto's, the handle was dark brown. The arms of the bow were curved like two handheld blades, their bases slightly thicker than the handle. Their centers were a brilliant blue with a vine-like design engraved in them, and their sharp, blade-like edges were gold.

Ignoring the pain in his back, Pit slowly stood up and picked up the bow in his left hand. As he did so, two glowing yellow rings appeared around his wrist.

Pit found himself instinctively putting his right hand on one end of the bow's handle, his hand facing up, and his left hand on the end, his hand facing down. He made the motion like he was pulling something apart, and the handle of the bow split in the middle, forming two short swords. The one in his left hand pointed downward, and the one in his right pointed up. After a few moments, Pit put the ends of the handles face-to-face, and they fused together again into a bow.

The act of doing this rather fascinated him. He'd seen Keto do it several times in the past, so the necessary motions weren't new to him, but the act of doing it himself was, and he found it to be to his liking.

After a few minutes, Pit turned and went to the other end of his prison. Two of the bones had been thinned out here, the length of the thinner parts being just slightly longer than the height of his head. They were leftover from when he'd tried to escape before.  
Without a moment's hesitation, he picked up a sharp stone and started grinding away at the bones, widening the crack in between them.

After a few seconds, one of them was ground down to the point the thin part broke off. Pit dropped the stone, got down on his belly, and started to push himself through the hole that he'd made. The sharp, splintered edge of the bone cut his right arm, but he didn't care.  
Suddenly, he found himself stuck as he started to get his legs through. Instinctively, Pit planted his hands on the bones, and pushed against them hard, trying to push himself through. Pain seared up his cut arm, and his badly torn back, but he ignored it, and focused on getting himself out. After a few moments of struggling, he suddenly thrust himself through, and tumbled over, ending up on his back a few feet away from his prison.

Pit stood up and glanced around, alert. Without looking back, the angel took off into the darkness, rushing headlong into a treacherous journey through a sinister place meant for the dead.


	19. A Treacherous Quest

The Shemum reared up and fanned out its wings, trying to look as imposing as it could. With a low hiss, the serpentine creature bared its fangs and lashed out. Pit defensively held up the blade in his right hand, to block the creature's attack. Sword scraped upon tooth, separating with a terrible screeching sound, and white sparks flying as the two connected.

Forming his bow, the angel fired an arrow into the creature's face. The Shemum screeched in pain as the angel cut off its tail. Narrowing its glowing yellow eyes, the serpent reached around and struck at the angel. Pit just barely dodged it as one of the creature's fangs grazed his arm. Swift as a shadow, the angel leaped up and severed the creature's head from its body. The beheaded serpent disappeared in a cloud of dark energy.

Fatigued from the fight, Pit went and sat down with his back up against the surface of a nearby boulder, his eyes closed as he mentally cleared his exhausted mind.

For the last few months it had been constant fighting, everywhere he went, and it was both physically and mentally wearing him out. He'd been traversing the Underworld, going on a quest to defeat Medusa. After what Palutena told him, the thought of taking back his home had given him an immediate motive to escape and begin the journey.

But in his heart, the thing that drove him to go on the quest the most was Palutena. He'd spent the vast majority of his childhood with her in Skyworld, and as his forest memories were forgotten, he'd begun to view the young goddess in a sense as a mother to him.

After a few moments, Pit jolted upright and pricked his ears, listening for the snarling and growling of monsters. He heard a faint hiss, but it wasn't close enough to be a threat. The angel then stood up and glanced around, his instincts telling him to be cautious of things around him.

The land so far had been rather mountainous, with many cliffs and caves. Jagged ravines cut through the ground, and dead-looking vines covered in thorns crawled their way up the flat cliff faces. The ground was dark gray-violet, and smooth and cold as ice. Piles of bones lay around, some higher than Pit's head. They were a jumble of human and animal bones, all mixed together, to the point one almost couldn't distinguish the human and animal bones apart from each other. The bones were pure white, and none were broken, except for some strewn out on the ground.

Pit had fought the Shemum on a flat ledge halfway up a cliff. Behind him, the ground was so obscured by darkness that it almost couldn't be seen. In front of him was a continuation of the cliff. Its surface was relatively smooth, and most of the ridges and protrusions weren't large enough for him to stand on, but there were enough large ones for him to ascend to the peak of the cliff by jumping from one to the next.

Keeping his ears alert, Pit spread his wings and leaped up onto a low-hanging ledge, flapping his wings to push himself higher into the air. They instantly retracted into a completely folded state on his back the moment he landed.

It still slightly angered him inside that he couldn't fly with his wings, why he didn't know, as he was not aware of the fact he'd never been taught how to fly, but as he journeyed through the Underworld, he'd begun to find Palutena had been right; he _did_ find a use for his wings.

He didn't know how to fly, but his wings nonetheless were still built to serve that purpose, and by flapping his wings, he could extend the distance he could jump. It had taken a really long time before he'd finally gotten it down in his brain to flap both wings at the same time, and while in the air, but it proved to be a useful thing for him to know how to do. To use his wings to fly was a skill he'd probably never truly learn at this point, but it didn't really matter all that much to him.

His wings also well-hid his back when they were completely folded, and he would do this when he wasn't using them. After what Medusa had done to him, his back was now extremely sensitive, and even just touching the region near his shoulder blades sent waves of pain down his spine. The wounds on his back were only partially healed, and keeping his wings folded protected them from being re-opened again.

As the angel neared the top of the cliff, the distinct hawk-like screech of a Syren alarmed him. Climbing up onto the peak of the cliff, hiding behind a ridge, he got down into a low crouch, his underbelly almost touching the ground, and looked down.

Two Syrens were fighting over half of the carcass of a dog-like animal of some kind. They were flying in circles around each other, swiping their talons and snapping their jaws at each other, like two scavenging birds fighting over a piece of prey. They hadn't noticed yet that Pit was there, watching them.

Taking his mind away from the sight, he began to think how he was going to handle the two creatures. It was likely they would spot him, but it was possible he could sneak past them. Looking at the land, the creatures were fighting in a sort of hollow, surrounded by a tall set of cliffs. At the side of the hollow exactly opposite of Pit was a huge ravine. Pit sat up a bit, his wings out for balance, and thought for a moment.

He was about to go try and sneak around them, when the two saw him move, and immediately chose to go after him. Before he could react at all, one of the Syrens dove down and clawed at his face. Pit shot his right hand up and caught the creature's foot in mid-swing. Surprised, the creature then unexpectedly lashed out with its free foot, its talons outstretched. Too late, Pit tried to pull his head back, and the creature's talons went deep into his forehead. Blood started dripping down his face and into his eyes. Seeing the effect of its attack, the Syren then clawed at his eyes, trying to blind him. Pit ducked his head down and braced himself as the creature landed blow after blow to his head.

A loud screech from behind suddenly alarmed him. Pit wiped the blood away from his eyes and looked back just in time to see the other Syren come out of nowhere and ram into him from behind, knocking him into the hollow. He felt a sharp rock pierce his back as he went down. A painful burning sensation rippled down his spine, and through his shoulders. Upon hitting the bottom of the hollow, Pit folded his wings and winced as another ripple of pain went through him.

The two Syrens swooped down and towered over the angel, cornering him. Their piercing eyes glowed red as they glared down at the angel. Pit looked up at them nervously, knowing that the two could easily kill him. But to his surprise, the creatures spread their wings and flew away, having lost interest in him. One of the Syrens glanced back at him, but did nothing more and disappeared into the darkness.

Pit watched the two fly away. Once they were gone, he got into a sitting position and laid back against the side of the hollow, his eyes half closed with exhaustion. He could feel his heartbeat thumping in his chest, and his sides were heaving. A low growl sounded nearby, but he was too tired to pay any attention to it.

After a few moments, he closed his eyes and let his exhaustion put him to sleep.


	20. Underworld Fortress

Pit woke up to a sudden pang of excruciating pain in his back, rippling up into his shoulders. There was a terrible throbbing in the right side of his face, and his wings ached with pain.

The air around him had a biting chill to it, yet he could feel a warm breeze ruffling the tips of his wings. The smell of death and carrion hit him like a blow. Dog-like howls filled the air, and the high-pitched screeching of Syrens echoed in his ears. Rather confused, Pit slowly opened his eyes.

Almost immediately he jolted upright. He was no longer in the hollow, but instead in a dark cave. He was laying on his side, partially curled up. The hard ground was rough, like sandstone, and was dark gray with a hint of magenta. Up above was a huge dome, dark red and brown in color, and decorated with ghostly designs. Bones were scattered on the ground, and a blood red glow dimly lit up the massive cavern.

The sight perplexed him. He hadn't the slightest idea where he was, or how he got there. The last thing he remembered was falling asleep in the hollow where he saw the two Syrens fighting. Little did he know that after he fell asleep, he'd eventually passed out, from how exhausted he was.

Another pang of pain in his back made him look down at himself. What he saw was shocking.

His back was badly bleeding from several deep claw wounds running down his back. His wings hung limply at his sides, spread out and streaked with soot. Their edges were burnt, and his left wing had a huge chunk of feathers torn out of it. There were three scars running down the right side of his face, across his eye. His arms and his legs were scratched up, and there were several bite wounds in the back of his neck.

Pit folded his wings across his back, and glanced around, trying to get a grip on where he was. As he looked about the cavern, a loud screech made him look up. Two Syrens were flying in circles above him. They flew around for a few seconds, before landing on the ground in front of him.

Pit cowered away from them. There was something about the two creatures that scared him. Like he'd seen those same two Syrens before. As if to confirm what he thought, one of the creatures went behind a boulder and dragged out half of a carcass. They were the Syrens he'd seen fighting in the hollow.

 _So that's maybe how I ended up here,_ Pit realized. _Those two Syrens brought me here. But why? Why didn't they just kill me? And where in the world am I?_

The Syren with the carcass let out a low-pitched _caw_ as it snatched up the carcass in its talons, and dropped on the ground near where Pit was laying. The other Syren, which was still standing on the ground, turned to its partner and repeated the call, then spread its wings and flew over to the carcass, where it joined in tearing at the heap of flesh and bones.

As he watched the two creatures feed on the carcass, Pit suddenly got the feeling of emptiness gnawing at his stomach. He couldn't even remember the last time he'd eaten anything, and seeing these two Syrens was reminding him of how hungry he was.

One of the Syrens suddenly stopped eating, and looked back at the angel. The creature then tore off a chunk of flesh and tossed it in his direction. Pit looked at it for a moment, then at the Syren. The creature nodded at him.

 _Go ahead, eat it. It's for you._

Pit nodded back, then reached forward and picked it up. He then hesitantly took a bite out of it. There was a hint of carrion to its taste, but for the most part, it just tasted like the flesh of prey. Like a piece of fresh-kill from the forest. He then didn't hesitate to eat the rest of it, its taste satisfying him. But as he ate, he couldn't help but wonder where he was. He felt like he'd once heard Keto mention something that hinted to where he was, but he wasn't too sure.

A sudden shadow cast over him snapped him out of his thoughts. He looked up to see one of the Syrens standing over him. In its mouth was, to his surprise, an emerald green snake. Like the ones in Medusa's hair.

Suddenly, it dawned on him. Thinking about the dark goddess, it suddenly occurred to him where he was. _Medusa's Underworld fortress._ He was in a cavern in the lowest part of the fortress.

 _So that's what Keto was talking about,_ Pit thought. A few weeks before the fight that resulted in Keto's death, he'd once heard the black-haired angel say something about a structure in the Underworld where Medusa resided. At that time, he hadn't any idea what he was talking about, but now he understood it all.

As if reading his mind, the Syren dipped its head, like it was nodding, and flung aside the snake. The snake hissed, then slithered away, into the shadows. The Syren then firmly picked up the angel by his shoulders, but without digging its talons in, and flew up to the peak of the cliff behind him. The other followed, carrying the angel's bow in its grip.  
Upon reaching the level of the cliff, the Syren put him down, and the other lightly dropped his bow on the ground nearby. The ground here was level, and surprisingly smooth. Directly in front of him was an empty doorway. Where it went was yet to be known.

Pit reached down and picked up his bow, then looked back at the two Syrens. The creatures just nodded once at him before flying away. Instinctively pricking his ears, he then took off into the shadows beyond the doorway, unaware of a soft voice calling to him.

 _Pikekit..._


	21. Twinbellows

One move was all it took-to turn his back to one particular part of the chamber, at the same time, the beast decided the time was right to attack.

After several days of journeying through the massive fortress-which surprisingly didn't contain that many monsters-he came across a massive chamber, near the entrance. The chamber was dimly lit by a blood red glow, and was utterly silent, with no sign of any monsters.

But just by simply turning his back to one side of the chamber, did he provoke the beast. Twinbellows, the guard dog of the Underworld. A two-headed dog, the massive creature easily stood several feet taller than Pit. Its fur was a dark red, the color of brick, and its menacing eyes glowed icy blue. Its neck, legs, and tail were concealed in flames, and a bony spine running down the humongous canine's back spewed out fire.

The massive canine didn't waste any time to attack. The second after its arrival in the chamber, one of the heads parted its jaws and shot a fireball at the angel. Caught unprepared, he leapt to the side, at the last second, just narrowly avoiding it. The creature then charged at him on sudden impulse, to which Pit reacted by darting off to the side, and the fiery canine smashed into the chamber wall, stunned. But very quickly did Twinbellows snap out of it, and it shot out another fireball.

The sheer speed in which the creature could attack was quickly overwhelming the angel, as he tried in vain to dodge its unexpectedly fast attacks, while attempting to land a blow of his own. Very gradually, the fiery beast began to corner the angel. On the verge of being completely trapped, he suddenly eyed several stones scattered on the ground. He doubted they would have any major effect, but he could think of nothing else. Taking a step back, Pit reached down and picked up one of the stones. Aiming for its face, he threw the stone at the massive canine. The stone connected with the eye of the left head. Howling in pain, the creature stepped back and stood there for moment, teeth bared in a snarl, and narrowed eyes glaring at the angel. Pit didn't hesitate to pick up another stone, and throw it, this time hitting the right head's snout.

Aggravated, the beast arched its back up, as both heads parted their jaws. Pit could see flames licking at the back of their mouths. Instinctively, he crouched down slightly, every nerve in his body tense, and his gaze directly locked with Twinbellows'.

Without warning, the two heads both shot a stream of fire from their mouths. At the last second, Pit leapt off to the side to avoid it. He then proceeded with attempting to get behind the fiery canine, which wasn't easy, due to Twinbellows constantly turning, trying to face him.

After some time, the creature stopped its fire stream, and looked about for the angel. Pit was crouched down on the other side of the chamber, his sides heaving with exhaustion. All the constant dodging and evading Twinbellows' attacks had worn him out.

Upon spotting the angel, the massive canine shot a fireball at him. Too late, Pit tried to dodge it, and the tip of his left wing caught on fire. He instinctively got down and rolled over once, which was enough to put out the small flame. The beast then turned around and charged, but the angel easily avoided it.

As the fight wore on, Pit found it to be harder and harder for him to avoid the fiery canine's attacks. He began to be more defensive, blocking its attacks, rather than dodging them. Twinbellows must've taken this as a sign of tiring, as it began to attack more aggressively than before, using its claws and teeth, as well as its fire breath. Pit slowly retreated as he tried to defend himself, trying to keep his distance, but the beast easily got the better of him, charging and attacking with a mighty swipe of its claws. The attack hit, and he was flung off to the side, where he hit his back up against the wall of the chamber, and fell to the ground, dazed. As the beast towered over him, preparing to deal a lethal blow, Pit cowered and held the two ends of his bow up in front of him, crossed over each other.

The right head of the massive canine shot a fireball at the angel, but it was deflected, and it flew back into the creature's mouth, where it made a small explosion. The fiery beast roared in agony, its two heads thrown back in a pain-filled howl. Pit slowly got up, watching in utter surprise at the effect the deflected fireball had.

"Oh, I see. He's immune to fire, but only on the outside."

With this in mind, Pit reached up and grabbed a nearby torch off the chamber wall. Just as Twinbellows was about to shoot another fireball, he flung the torch at the beast. It went into the mouth of the left head, where again, there was a small explosion, albeit smaller than the previous one.

At the first chance he had, Pit then ran over to a corner, opposite of Twinbellows. On the ground here was a golden casket. The angel had spotted it before, but had been preoccupied with the fight. Now, he then proceeded to open it. For a moment, the whole inside glowed with a brilliant white light. As the light died away, it revealed its contents.

It was a shield, teal in color. It was edged in gold, and had a mirror-like sheen.

 _A mirror shield...that's an idea._

Pit turned to face the fiery canine, who was now standing in the center of the chamber, ears pointed back, and a low growl rising its throat. Then, without warning, both heads opened their mouths and shot two fire balls at the angel. Instinctively, Pit held his left arm up in front of him. The mirror shield was now strapped to his arm. The two fire balls ricocheted off the surface of the shield, and flew back into the mouths of their respective heads, bigger than they were before. Both exploded at the same time, their explosions each twice as big as the first one. The creature let out a pitiful yowl, then unsteadily stepped back. Pit then seized this opportunity to dash forward and attack using the ends of his bow like dual swords.

In one clean slash, the angel sliced open the muzzle of one of the heads. The creature howled, then started repeatedly swiping its claws at the angel. Pit easily blocked them with the shield. He then dove forward, through the canine's legs, ending up directly underneath the fiery beast. The creature's underbelly had no fur of any kind, just bare skin, with bulging muscles showing on its chest area.

Without a moment's hesitation, Pit reached up and stabbed the creature's underbelly. In response, the fiery canine began attempting to claw at the angel with its hind paws, much to Pit's surprise. Dodging a second too late, the creature's claws managed to tear out several feathers from his wings.

Suddenly thinking of an idea, Pit quickly got in front of the beast. As the creature advanced, he backed up, pretending to retreat. As he'd hoped, the creature took the bait, and both heads shot two huge fireballs at the angel. Pit flashed the shield up in front of him, deflecting the two fiery projectiles. Upon hitting the shield, the two fireballs grew bigger, and returned to the mouths of their respective heads. The resulting explosion was enough to defeat the massive canine, and Twinbellows went up in a cloud of dark red energy. The angel pumped his fist in triumph, much like what he'd seen Keto do.

Pit then went and stood in the entrance to the fortress. The landscape was rather mountainous, much like the land he'd seen after escaping from his prison. But unlike before, the cliff ranges here were alive with volcanoes and magma geysers. Rivers of molten rock carved their way through the land, and volcanic craters spewed forth fountains of lava.

For a moment, Pit stood in the entrance of the fortress, hesitant about traveling through such a particularly hazardous place. But as he looked out at the terrain, trying to decide what to do, he recalled Palutena's last words to him.

 _I'm counting on you, Pit._

Suddenly feeling a rush of courage, he folded his wings and took off, heading into a dangerous journey through the upper region of the Underworld.


	22. Into the Light

**Hello, readers! Sorry if it's been awhile since the last update on this story was made. I've got school going now, and haven't really had the time to work on fanfiction. As well, my focus lately has been more on revising old chapters, rewording and expanding them. But now, I've got my head back in the game, and I appreciate you all for being patient.**

 **I think I have at least four more chapters to go that take place in the original _Kid Icarus_. Hope y'all are enjoying it so far, and don't forget to leave a review on your way out.**

A warm breeze ruffled the edges of his wings as he nimbly clambered up the rocky cliffside. Near the peak of the cliff, he spread his wings, like a bird about to take off, and sprang up towards the top. He neatly landed on his feet, folding his wings the moment he hit the ground. He briefly glanced around before continuing on his way.

Traversing through the upper region of the Underworld hadn't been as battle-ridden, somewhat to Pit's surprise. There were a few smaller monsters scattered around, but in terms of numbers, there weren't even half as many as there were in the lower region.

But as if to make up for the lack of monsters, the natural land was twice as dangerous. Cliffs and mountainside paths were unpredictable, suddenly crumbling away in places, or breaking off completely. Volcanoes would erupt unexpectedly, and one could easily find themselves caught in the eruption, stranded on a rock in the middle of a lava flow. Caves and tunnels were apt to collapse without warning, especially at the mouth, and it was easy to get caught in the cave-in, and end up trapped underground.

There was virtually nowhere safe, nowhere secure, in that hostile place, the natural land endlessly testing one's reflexes and endurance. Traveling through that region of the Underworld would seem harder than any other part of the realm.

Yet, it wasn't as hard as it initially seemed to Pit, as the result of something else he found himself capable of.

An unintentional discovery that made him internally question his abilities...

* * *

 _He was journeying past a sheer cliff when it happened. Without warning, a particularly large Shemum appeared out of nowhere, and advanced towards the angel. This abrupt encounter scared him so badly, he immediately took off, the creature persuing him. But he couldn't run forever, as he suddenly came to the edge of a deep gorge, that looked to be too far for him to jump. A river of lava flowed down below._

 _The Shemum caught up to him quickly. With nowhere else he could run, he had no choice but to try and clear the distance of the gorge. Spreading his wings, he crouched down, and jumped, hoping the small amount of lift his wings provided would be enough for him get to the other side._

 _Suddenly, a warm current gathered under his wings, greatly slowing his downward movement. The warm air gently propelling him forward, he began to glide! Pit looked down, and watched the fiery river pass by underneath him._

 _As he watched the land go by, he suddenly felt a spark of courage, and flapped his wings. But this only made him lose his balance, much to his surprise, making him yell out as he began to fall into the gorge, beating his wings helplessly. He was just barely able to grab the lip of the gorge, and climb up onto the other side. The Shemum glared at him, before slithering off._

* * *

Pit stopped for a moment and partially spread his wings, glancing back at them. It was something he'd become rather quizzical about. What he truly was and wasn't capable of doing, and why, as it seemed to him if he could glide, then most likely he could also fly. Yet, he seemingly couldn't, given that in the two times he'd tried to fly, he'd failed at it. So then why couldn't he fly? If he was capable of flying, then why was it that whenever he tried to fly, he couldn't?

It was a query his mind could not make head or tail of, and it hurt his head trying to figure it out. It just flat-out would not occur to him that he hadn't been taught how to fly.

A loud screech from behind abruptly snapped him out of his thoughts. Before he even had the chance to look back and see what it was, a streak of blue and orange flew by, just mere inches away from his head. Pit instinctively ducked, as a whole group of Syrens flew overhead, and ascended into the air, towards a hole in the dark clouds that shone with pure light. Countless other monsters were headed towards it too.

 _That patch of light must lead to the Overworld,_ Pit thought. _And that's where I need to go too. But how am I supposed to get all the way up there?_

It didn't take long for him to think of a possible way to get to the Overworld. It was a risky and potentially very dangerous way, but he could think of nothing else. He crouched down low to the ground, and spread his wings out. A trio of Shemum were coming up. Just as the first one was passing right above him, he leaped straight up, pushing off with his wings, and successfully latched onto the serpents' back. The Shemum looked back and curled its lip upon seeing the angel, but did nothing more.

It was rather fascinating, watching the land streak by, a blur of dark red and orange. As they began the ascent, Pit raised his head and spread his wings out, enjoying the feeling of his hair being blown back and the feathers of his wings flattened in the wind.

The air was suddenly lit up by a blinding flash of light as they passed through the hole, so sudden that Pit had to refrain from releasing his grip on the serpentine creature. There was a split second in which it felt everything had vanished into timeless void, before being replaced with the feeling of crisp, open air. Pit opened his eyes and looked down, to find the land had changed completely.

Instead of bare, red earth alive with volcanic activity, there was now rolling hills blanketed in fresh grass. Trees were scattered here and there, some in clusters of forest. A sparkling river swerved and twisted its way through the land, and fluffy white clouds littered the bright sky above. They were in the Overworld.

It barely even registered when Pit felt something coil around his waist and lift him off the Shemum's back, holding him out so he was suspended in the air. Before he even knew what was happening, the serpent unexpectedly dropped him, making him cry out as he plummeted towards the ground, futily beating his wings.

Suddenly, as he began to collide with the branches of trees as he fell, he felt his right wing catch on something, bringing his fall to an abrupt halt. Looking up, he saw that a dead branch had snagged on the end feathers of his wing. He tried to reach up and grab the branch, but it was too far away. Down below, the ground looked to still be a good distance away. It sent fear crawling up his spine, seeing just how much further he had to go before he hit solid ground.

Pit felt the urge to panic when the branch began to groan and creak, unable to support his weight dangling from it. Just as he was able to reach up and barely grab the end of it, the branch shifted with a loud groan, and snapped, causing him to fall to the ground, the impact sending shockwaves through his bones.

He lay there for a moment, his mind frozen in shock, before he shakily rose into a sitting position. His whole body was terribly sore from the hard impact, and it slightly surprised him that he hadn't broken anything, although his right wing was throbbing with pain from the amount of stress that had been put on it. As well, his bow and the mirror shield were still strapped to his back, and were completely unharmed.

He was suddenly distracted when his stomach let out a loud growl. It had been awhile since he'd last eaten, which had been when those two Syrens gave him a piece of their carcass. The cheerful twittering and whistling of songbirds filled his ears, and bushy-tailed squirrels scampered about, some with their cheeks bulging, stuffed with food.

His empty stomach growled again. Unable to take his mind off of how hungry he was, and the good chance he had now of getting food, Pit removed his bow and the shield from his back, and lay them up against a nearby rock, before heading into the forest, in search of prey.

It didn't take long for him to find something. Standing on the ground, near a clump of briars, was a plump, little squirrel. Instinctively, he dropped into a low crouch, and slowly crept forward, until he was a few feet away from it. The squirrel's tail began to twitch with agitation, but the squirrel didn't move, preoccupied with a seed it was holding in its little paws. Spreading his wings out a bit, he pounced, but the squirrel sensed him coming, and scampered underneath the briars, where it resumed nibbling on its seed. Pit crouched down and tried clawing at the bushy-tailed rodent, but only ended up badly cutting his hands on the plant's needle-like thorns.

He eventually was able to bring down a finch, which he took back to the clearing where he'd left his things, to eat. It had taken him awhile to be able to finally catch something, due to the whiteness of his chiton and his wings clearly standing out against the darker greens and browns of the forest, but it was worth going through the effort to catch the small bird, and he filled his empty belly with one of the best-tasting pieces of food he'd ever eaten.

As the sky turned scarlet with the setting sun, and he nestled down into the soft grass beneath a holly bush, from somewhere in the forest nearby was the gentle cooing of a dove.


	23. Gaol to the Rescue

_Caaw caaw caaw!_ The raspy squawking of a crow pirched atop a towering redwood filled the air. Pit twitched his ears at its loud calls as he trekked through the forest, all of his senses sharp, and ready for anything. But the only thing he picked up either by sound or sight was things of the forest; birds cheerfully singing as they flew from tree to tree. Chipmunks gathering nuts and seeds, stuffing them in their cheeks to take back to their burrows. Hawks and crows and other birds of prey standing guard on the tops of the tallest trees, keeping an ever-watchful eye out for a potential snack to come passing by on the ground below. It somewhat reminded him of a place he once knew, but he couldn't quite remember where.

He was abruptly snapped out of his thoughts when the hawk-like screech of a Syren accompanied the crow. Pit turned and looked up just in time to see the creature come swooping down towards him, like a hawk diving to catch its prey, talons out, poised to strike. Thinking fast, he darted off to the side, and the creature just narrowly missed its target. Seeing his chance to attack, Pit armed himself with his bow, and fired an arrow at the monster, and he successfully struck its back. But this didn't phase the Syren, and the creature suddenly turned on a dime and charged at the angel. He tried to dodge again, but the creature was ready, and sharply turned upon passing him. The Syren then persued him through the forest, resorting to using its fangs instead of its talons to attack. After awhile, it seemed that Pit had outrun the Syren, and he paused to catch his breath. But it wasn't long when the creature showed up, having caught up with him. Too exhausted to run, or put up a fight, he slowly retreated, all the while trying to find a way to either defeat the creature, or get it to lose interest in him.

Suddenly, as he took a step back, he felt something scratch the back of his leg, drawing blood. Behind him was a huge bramble bush. Reminded of how the squirrel he'd been hunting a few days ago had hidden in the clump of briars, Pit got down into a low crouch, and backed away, until he was in the shelter of the prickly undergrowth. The bush's thorny stems cut and scratched his arms and legs, and snagged and pulled on his wings, but he didn't care. As well, he ignored the stinging pain that seared through his hands as he crouched down. The Syren began to furiously claw and tear at the brambles, trying to reach its target, but soon gave up and flew off.

Once the creature was out of sight, he crawled out from under the brambles. His wings were all scruffy-looking from the thorns constantly snagging on them, and several feathers had been torn out. His limbs were all cut and scratched up, and there was a thorn stuck in his ankle. A thorn was stuck in the palm of his right hand as well. He sat down, and tried to get them out, but only succeeded with the one in his ankle.

Pit continued on his way, all the while trying to remove the thorn from his hand. But he only managed to further lodge it in, making it even harder to get a hold of it. When he finally gave up, and looked around, refocusing his mind, he was rather confused to see the forest ended here, and a vast lake now stretched out in front of him. At the opposite end of the lake was a town. Dozens of underworld monsters were swarming around it.

As he started to head around the lake, towards the town, a low rumble made the ground shake. Alarmed, Pit readied his bow, as a huge dragon emerged from the surface of the lake. Its body was long, and serpent-like, but its head was clearly that of a dragon's. The scales lining its back spanned the entire width of its body, like huge plates of armor, and were purple in color. Its belly scales were smaller, a tough layer of chain mail covering its underside, and were icy blue, with a hint of silver. This coloration continued in its head, the upper half of its head being purple, and its chin icy blue. The geometric spines of its cheek frills were also purple, and the membrane was red-orange, that gave rise to a peachy color on the edges. Two horns protruded from its head, one on the tip of its snout, and the other on its forehead. Both were pink at the base, and faded to bright scarlet. Its pupil-less eyes glowed pure white, and flared with hostility as they spotted the angel.

He didn't hesitate to shoot an arrow at the dragon's face, but it didn't do much, except further aggravate it. Without warning, the dragon reached towards the angel with its tail. He relentlessly attacked the tail, trying to hurt it enough that it would recoil, but instead, it continued to advance towards him, until it managed to wrap around the angel, and pick him up off the ground. Half-expecting the dragon to try and eat him, he was caught by surprise when it plunged him deep into the lake, and held him there.

Pit began to desperately writhe and twist around, trying to get free. But the dragon had a strong grip on him, and struggling only made it tighten its grip. A powerful burning sensation began to spread through his chest, which felt like it was going to burst. He didn't think he could manage to hold his breath much longer.

Suddenly, he felt the dragon release its grip on him. Looking up, he saw a human, a female warrior, diving down towards him, her hand outstretched. Pit reached up towards her, and they both grabbed each other at the same time. The moment she grabbed his hand, the warrior then surged up towards the surface, pulling him up with her.

Once he was solid ground, Pit got onto his hands and knees, and coughed up a few mouthfuls of lake water. He kept his head down for a moment, his sides heaving, before he wearily looked up at the female warrior.

"Th-thanks for rescuing me."

"No need for thanks. My name's Gaol."

He nodded in response. "I'm Pit."

Gaol offered her hand to him, which he accepted, and she helped him to get to his feet. She then led him to a small group of warriors standing nearby.

There looked to be at least eight or nine people in the group, including Gaol. Most of them were males, but a few were females. All of them looked fit for battle, with some form of armor on, and wielding weapons, some meant for close range, others long. Some had their weapon sheaths on their backs, others on their waist. And some just carried their weapons in their hands.

Gaol was armed with a bow made of a dark kind of wood. She had a thick leather breastplate on, and leather bracers. Her boots were also leather. She had a black tunic on under her armor, and a dagger sheathed on her right side. Her wavy brown hair was pushed back and away from her face by a brown headband with an eagle's feather attached to it.

"All of us are mercenaries," Gaol explained. "We're known in the town for fighting off monsters, and other strange creatures that attack it, and other civilizations, and aiding others in combat."

"Which from the looks of it, is something you need," one of the others remarked.

For a second, Pit wanted to deny the offer, but then noticed the look Gaol was giving him, and thought twice. She was giving a look that said she had vital knowledge about the situation, things that he didn't know. Although somewhat hesitantly, he accepted the offer.

Pit followed them to their camp that they had set up at the edge of a nearby woodland. There, Gaol gave him something to eat, while she told him what she knew.

"That dragon has been living there for years," Gaol began. "His name is Hewdraw. He was long thought in the town to just be an old myth passed down by word of mouth, until he revealed his presence when the Underworld army attacked the town. Legend has it that he now guards one of the Three Sacred Treasures."

Pit abruptly looked up.

"That's what I'm after, the Three Sacred Treasures. I'm on a mission to gather them, and take down Medusa."

"I see. And I can tell you've made some progress with that."

Gaol gestured to the mirror shield he had strapped to his back. Pit looked at it too, for a moment.

"You probably already know this from experience, but the Mirror Shield has the power to deflect opponents' projectiles back at them, growing bigger in size and strength than when they first hit the shield's surface. Hence, the name 'mirror shield'."

"Yes, I did know that. I used the shield to defeat Twinbellows. It's rather odd that he's not immune to his own fire."

"It's what you get for having fire-based projectiles, and not being fireproof on the inside."

They both broke out laughing.

"But I can't say the same thing about Hewdraw," Gaol remarked, her voice growing somewhat serious. "Most of his projectiles have a strong homing ability, travel quickly, and explode or disperse on impact. Trying to deflect them won't do much. And most of them you can't readily see coming, because he doesn't have to show himself to fire them. He is a water dragon, after all, so most his ranged attacks travel through water really well. Your best bet is to attack him from above, flying over the surface of the lake."

Pit hesitated for a second.

"Umm...I can't fly."

Gaol looked up at him, her expression a mix of confusion and deep thought.

"That's odd. I thought angels were supposed to fly. And that's going to be real problem in this fight. Do you know why you can't fly?"

"Um...not really."

"I see..."

Gaol eyed the thorn lodged in Pit's hand.

"Here, let me help you get that out."

Pit held his hand out to Gaol, and she began trying to remove the thorn. It took awhile, due to how deep it had gone in, but she was finally able to work it enough that she could easily grab it, and pull it out. Blood began to seep out where the thorn had been, and it stung like fury, making him want to recoil his hand. But he simply clenched his jaw at the sharp pain as Gaol bandaged the palm of his hand.

"Do you know where the treasure Hewdraw is guarding is located?"

"We assume it's in the lake somewhere. Makes it harder to access, and because of how big the lake is, it's harder to know where in the lake the treasure is located."

"Oh. Makes sense."

"That's where we come in," Gaol continued. "We'll distract Hewdraw while you locate the treasure. Once you do, return to us, and help us fight him from the shore, until you get the chance to obtain the treasure. From there, will leave most of the fighting to you, but we'll step in and help, should things go badly."

Pit nodded in understanding. "Got it."

Gaol stood up and started to head to her shelter, then looked back, and gestured for Pit to follow.

"For now, we'll have you stay with us. We'll execute this plan tomorrow."


	24. Hewdraw

Pit woke up to the cheerful morning songs of robins and meadowlarks, their melodious chirping and whistling a wake up call to the world. As he sat up, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, he got the sense that Gaol wasn't there, in the shelter. As if to confirm what he thought, mingling with the songbirds' lively music, was someone whistling outside, along with the sound of stone scraping upon stone, and the sharp _twang_ of a bowstring being released.

Stretching his stiff limbs, he slowly rose to his feet, and picked up his bow, which was leaning up against the wall nearby. He briefly flexed his wings before returning the mirror shield to its place on his back, his wings still spread out. The wounds on his back had fully healed up now, so he had no need to keep his wings folded. As well, he was beginning to find his wings grew extremely sore and stiff after being tightly folded for long periods of time.

Outside, Gaol was cheerfully whistling to a tune, while sharpening the heads of her arrows with a flat stone. The arrows lay neatly lined up on the ground in front of her, and when she finished sharpening one, she put it back in her quiver, and picked up another. She must've woken up early, and started this task awhile ago, for she had more than half of her arrows in her quiver.

A little ways away, the other sharpshooters were preparing for the battle, polishing their skills with target practice, and analyzing their weapons, making sure they were in peak condition.

Upon noticing Pit approaching her, Gaol looked up from her work, and smiled.

"You ready to take down Hewdraw?"

"You bet I am."

He excitedly fluttered his wings.

Gaol tossed him what looked like deer meat.

"I thought you might be hungry, so I saved that for you."

Pit gratefully accepted it, and he sat down across from Gaol as he ate. He'd never eaten deer meat before, but he found its taste very much to his liking.

"How's your hand?"

That slightly caught him off-guard. He briefly averted his gaze to his bandaged hand.

"It still hurts, but not as much as it did before."

"Hopefully that doesn't slow you down too much during the fight."

"Yeah, me too. I've had work my cut out for me just not being able to fly."

Gaol laughed. "I can imagine you would."

Gaol finished sharpening her last arrow, then checked her bow. She looked over at the others, who were now suiting up for battle. Upon seeing this, Gaol stood up and walked over to them. The others looked over at her.

"Is everyone ready?"

"We're ready, Gaol."

Gaol smiled, then gestured to the lake.

"Then let's do this! May victory be on our side!"

Gaol led the others to the lake, Pit tagging alongside her.

"Now remember; once you locate the treasure, return to the shore where we are, until you get the chance to retrieve the treasure. Once you retrieve it, we'll leave the fight to you."

"Right."

The sharpshooters fanned out across the shore, bows loaded and ready.

Yet, the beast didn't show up. Everything was completely still and silent, the only sounds being the songbirds and the soothing sound of water on the shore.

"I wonder if it's because Hewdraw knows it's a group, not one person, and therefore is not showing himself, knowing that he's outnumbered, and could easily be defeated," one of them suggested.

Gaol shook her head. "I don't think so. If that were the case, he would not have shown himself when we attempted to fight him years ago. And we were only a group of four at that time. Don't forget, Hewdraw's a big dragon. Numbers is going to be nothing to him. Now, it could be Pit, because he's an angel. And since angels possess a way to fly, and be able to get at Hewdraw from above, that would be a reason for him to not show himself."

"But I thought you said Pit couldn't fly. Which in that case, what difference does it make that he's an angel?"

Pit sheepishly hid his face with his wing. It had been hard enough telling Gaol about his inability to fly, but for the others to know that he couldn't fly was making him feel really embarrassed about it.

Gaol looked down at Pit, and comfortingly put her hand on his shoulder.

"You can relax, Pit. We're not trying to embarrass you. I'm sure a flightless bird would feel the same way as you do."

Gaol returned her gaze to the sharpshooter.

"But you're right, his disability does make him pretty much no different from us, in a way. However, he's still an angel, flightless or not, and therefore might very well possess certain skills and power no human could ever wish to have."

"That's very true. Maybe it's-"

The sharpshooter was abruptly cut off when a deafening rumble shook the air. Moments later, a small, purple object flew out of the water and landed on the shore in front of Pit. It was shaped like an arrowhead, but a lot thicker, and had a shell-like texture.

Pit crouched down and examined it in curiosity. The object started to glow bright red.

"Look out!"

Gaol knocked him aside suddenly, just as the object exploded. Pit furiously clawed at Gaol, until she let him get up.

"What in the world was that for?!"

Before Gaol could respond, the ground violently shook as Hewdraw erupted from the surface of the lake, and roared at them.

"That's why. Let the battle begin!"

Pit didn't waste a moment, and jumped into the lake, in search of the treasure. He swiftly moved through the water, moving his limbs in the same way Gaol had when she saved him from drowning. His wings proved to be helpful too, and he found that they came to function similarly to the fins on some water-dwelling creatures.

Suddenly, as he was looking around the center of the lake, he saw it. A golden casket, identical to the one he'd seen in the chamber where he'd fought Twinbellows. Knowing he'd found the treasure, he headed for the surface, following along with the plan.

"You find it?"

Gaol looked over when she saw Pit emerge from under the water's surface.

"Yeah, I found it. It's in the center of the lake. I'll need a real good opening to get it."

"Alright. Now the next thing is for you to help us fight him from the shore, until you get the chance to retrieve the treasure."

Gaol went over to where Pit was headed, and held her hand out to him. But just as he was about to grab her, he felt a painful piercing sensation go up his left arm as something pulled him under. He looked down to see what it was, and was shocked to find it was a huge fish that had latched onto his arm. The creature pulled him down to the bottom of the lake, and started viciously attacking him, zipping around the angel like it had been charged with electricity, and striking at him again and again, not once letting him get the chance to fight back, or defend himself in any way. Fresh blood began to cloud the water, staining it bright red. He tried and tried to return to the surface, but the fish wouldn't let him, and it kept biting his arm and pulling him down every time he attempted to resurface.

It wasn't long before the cloud of Pit's blood could be seen from the shore. Upon seeing the dark red stain in the water, Gaol jumped in. She was momentarily shocked to see him being mauled by a huge fish. Pit glanced over at her, and gave her a look of desperate pleading for help. At that, Gaol swiftly took out her dagger, and at the first chance she had to attack, thrust it into the fish's side, then pulled it out, the fish's blood mingling with Pit's.

The creature was quick to turn on her, and it began zipping around and attacking her, but being a lot older and bigger than Pit, its attacks didn't do much. Having the upper hand in both size and strength in this fight, it didn't take very long before she was able to kill the monstrous fish. She then grabbed Pit's hand, and pulled him to the shore, where she examined him.

He'd been wounded badly. Half of his left arm was bare, bloody flesh, where the creature had repeatedly bitten him to keep him underwater. His wings were missing most of their feathers, and what little down remained on them was mangled and covered in blood. One of them was bent at an odd angle, in a place it shouldn't be bent, indicating it was broken. His legs were badly torn up, having taken a lot of damage there, enough that the bare bone of his right knee could be seen.

Just as Gaol began tending to Pit's wounds, someone called her name.

"Gaol..."

She stopped what she was doing and looked up at the sharpshooter who was approaching her.

"What is it?"

"We need to come up with a backup plan. We can't hold off Hewdraw for much longer. Two of us are down, and unable to fight, and we tried having the others help us, but it didn't do much. So what do we do?"

Gaol's mind was racing. They were badly losing the battle, and the fact Pit was in no condition to fight didn't help at all.

"What if you got some people from the town to help you?" Pit suggested.

Gaol looked over at him, and smiled.

"Good thinking, Pit," she remarked, then returned her gaze to the sharpshooter. "Go into the town, and tell them what's happening. Explain we need reinforcements, and get as many people as you can, then bring them to the lake. We'll then take it from there."

"Consider it done." Without a moment's hesitation, the sharpshooter took off, towards the town.

Gaol resumed tending to Pit, cleaning the blood away from the wounds. Seeing that they were deeper than she thought, she bent down and picked the angel up in her arms, and carried him back to the camp. The two who had been too badly injured to fight were there. They were both shocked when they saw Gaol carrying Pit.

"What happened?"

"Some huge fish attacked him when he came to report to me after locating the treasure."

One of the injured sharpshooters rather unsteadily rose to his feet.

"Anything we can do to help?"

"Yeah. Could you two stay with Pit while I go get some things? It'll only take me a moment."

Gaol lay Pit down on the ground up against the stones where they'd previously sat and talked, then disappeared into the camp. The sharpshooter got down in front of the angel, and looked him over, shocked by just how much damage the fish had done. Pit softly moaned, and averted his gaze up to the sharpshooter. He tried to flex his broken wing, but almost instantly recoiled it, pressing it against his back in pain.

It wasn't long before Gaol showed up again, with a handful of cloths. The sharpshooter stepped back, letting Gaol get down on her knees in front of Pit, where she began using the cloths to bandage up his wounds. He slightly cringed when he realized that he could see the bone of his knee.

Once she'd finished, Pit shakily tried to stand up, which he slowly and unsteadily managed to do, and then attempted to walk, but when he tried putting weight on his injured leg, he almost instantly fell forward, the excruciating pain causing his legs to give way from underneath him. Gaol quickly caught him with her arm. She let him right himself, but when he tried again to walk, she made him sit down, leaning his back up against the stones.

"You need to stay here and rest, Pit. You're in no condition to do this."

Pit ignored her, and shakily stood up again, pure determination blazing in his dark blue eyes, despite the look of pain that was glazed over them. He made another attempt to walk, but again, his injured leg gave way when he tried to put his weight on it, and Gaol had to catch him.

Just then, a voice came from behind.

"Gaol. I got some good news for you. I managed to get some people to help us."

Gaol looked behind her to see the sharpshooter she'd tasked with getting people from the town. Behind them was a good-sized group, made up of hunters, sharpshooters, and warriors skilled in ranged combat. There looked to be a dozen or so in the group.

"That's great. We'll be needing their help."

"What's our next move?"

Gaol looked deep in thought for a moment.

"Have them join in the battle. Try to keep the fight contained, focused on that side of the lake. I'm going to take Pit to another part of the lake shore, so he can go retrieve the treasure without fear of being attacked by Hewdraw."

"Hold on a sec, Gaol. You do realize how foolish it is to let Pit take part in this battle? You very well know that he's in no condition to fight."

"I understand, and I'm fully aware of the potential dangers of doing this, but it's a risk I have to take. Pit's our only hope in truly winning this fight. And remember too, he's an angel. He's not like us."

The sharpshooter looked hesitant, but nodded once.

"I just hope you know what you're doing."

The sharpshooter led the group to the shore, where they immediately leaped into the fray. Gaol put an arm around Pit, and helped him over to another part of the lake. It took them awhile; the excruciating pain of his leg was making him walk with a limp, to the extent he would frequently lose his footing, and stumble. They eventually managed to get to a section of lake shore where a wall of tall reeds grew, allowing Pit to get in the water without being seen. Pit started to let go of her, and swim away, but Gaol held him back in hesitation.

"I'm rather hesitant to let you do this. You know just as well as I do what kind of condition you're in."

"I know what I'm doing, Gaol. I can do this."

Gaol gazed at him worriedly for a moment, then reluctantly released her grip on him.

"I suppose. I can see you've made up your mind about this. And you know yourself better than I do. Good luck, Pit."

Pit gave her a small smile, before going further out, and disappearing under the surface of the lake. Gaol watched him vanish, then turned and joined the others in the fight.

* * *

All of his nerves tensed up with anxiety as he dove into the lake, scared that he was going to be attacked again. But there was no sign of anything coming for him. Only turquoise water and yellow-green plants growing from the sides and bottom of the lake. Hewdraw dove under for a second, and narrowed his eyes upon noticing the angel, but did nothing more, and shot a barrage of lasers toward the shore. Pit felt a wave of relief come over him as he took off as fast as he could go towards the center of the lake.

Swimming in his injured state turned out to not be as difficult as he thought. Although he couldn't move as fast as before, due to his broken wing, it wasn't near as painful, or stressful on his legs as walking had been.

It wasn't long before the casket came into view, and he dove down even further, so he was directly in front of it. He then didn't hesitate to open it.

Like before, the inside of the casket lit up with pure light for a moment. As the light died away, Pit saw shimmering blue trails come out of the casket, and swirl around him, energy and warmth spreading through his wings. This feeling of energy in his wings sparked his curiosity, and he looked back at his wings to see what it was.

There was no pain in his wings as he spread them out to look at them. The one that had been broken was healed, and all the feathers that had been torn out of them were replaced. As well, they had grown, and were close to have doubled in size and length. They were surrounded in a bright blue glow, that dazzled and glittered on his wings, like starlight.

As he gazed at his wings, he felt something spark in him. An instinct that had lay dormant within him for years. One he'd never truly been taught to use. In one swift motion, he spread his wings, like he had when he was extending his jump distance. Looking skyward, he pushed off and flapped them, rapidly ascending towards the surface, like a bird taking flight...

* * *

Gaol leapt to the side as a bright blue ball of energy flew her way. Down on one knee, she fired an arrow into the dragon's snout. Hewdraw snorted in anger, and launched a barrage of lasers at the group, most of them homing in on her. She tried to dodge them, but couldn't avoid being hit, and one of them grazed her shoulder as it flew by, sending waves of sharp pain searing up her arm.

As she got to her feet, another one of the sharpshooters took a step back, and hit her from behind. The two looked back at each other, and as their gazes met, they both came to the same idea.

 _Let's do this together._

Standing side-by-side, the two shot their arrows in unison, and they successfully hit Hewdraw's forehead. As they started to fire at their own pace, both of them began to realize something.

"Pit's been down there for an awfully long time."

"Yeah, he has."

"You don't suppose he's been attacked again?"

"I would hope not. I wonder if-"

Gaol was interrupted when they saw a small figure erupt from the surface of the lake and begin to fly around overhead.

 _Ya-hah! Wah-hoo!_

It was Pit. And he was flying! His wings were fully restored, with all of their feathers regrown, and they were much larger than before. Shimmering light and feathers trailed shortly behind him as he joyfully swooped and soared through the sky. At times he flew so high that he was just a twinkling blue light in the sky, like a bright star.

"It's rather astonishing," the sharpshooter remarked. "He actually managed to retrieve the treasure."

"Yeah, it is. Looks like the one he retrieved this time was the Wings of Pegasus."

Suddenly, Hewdraw looked up at the flying angel, and shot a barrage of lasers at him. Gaol saw Pit twitch his ears, then sharply swerve off to the side, and the lasers flew off into the forest behind him. As he flew over the shore, Gaol tossed him his bow, which he managed to catch so easily it was like it had been guided through the air so it landed neatly in his hand. Pit then ascended until he was level with Hewdraw. He readied an arrow in his bow.

"Let's settle this!"

Pit released the arrow, and it went right in Hewdraw's face. Enraged, the massive dragon shot a flaming ball of electric energy at the angel, which he easily dodged. Seeing that Hewdraw was completely focused on Pit now, Gaol rounded up the others and led them inland.

The two continued to battle, shooting projectiles at each other. At one point, Pit managed to shoot an arrow down Hewdraw's throat, to which the dragon roared in agony, then spat out a blue ball of pure energy at the angel, which he managed to dodge.

For awhile, Pit was able to easily dodge Hewdraw's projectiles, but as the fight wore on, he began to find his injuries were starting to take their tole. Sharp pangs were rippling up his injured leg, and into his hip, making it hard for him to balance himself. His arm was throbbing with pain from extensive use, and his right hand stung horribly, due to him holding his bow in his right hand.

It was becoming harder and harder for him to focus, and know where to go to dodge attacks, as well as judge when to try and land blows of his own. As well, having to constantly be moving around was wearing him out, which further added to his difficulty concentrating.

In an effort to gain the chance to catch his breath, Pit flew straight up into the air, and hovered there for a moment. Hewdraw took advantage of this, and shot another one of its purple grenades at the angel. With his back to the lake, Pit didn't see it coming.

"Look out behind you!" Gaol shouted as loud as she could.

Pit twitched his ears at Gaol's voice. He turned around, somewhat confused, and was caught completely unprepared when the object flew up right in front of his face, and exploded, knocking him out. Gaol felt fear fill her up as the unconscious angel plummeted towards the ground, like a bird that had been shot. Hewdraw raised his head and let out a roar of triumph.

Gaol could feel the tension rising up among the others as they watched Pit fall from the sky. They all knew that if he fell all the way to the ground, the impact would most certainly kill him.

 _He has got come back to his senses before it's too late._

"Snap out of it, Pit!" Gaol called out.

But the explosion had thoroughly knocked him unconscious, and by the time he finally came to, it was far too late for him to try and recover, and he painfully hit the ground.

He lay there for long while, completely motionless. The only sign that showed he was alive was the faint rise and fall of his back as he breathed. He then slowly raised his head up a bit, a look of shock and pain on his face.

Hewdraw gazed down at Pit, his pupil-less eyes gleaming with victorious pride. The dragon opened his mouth and prepared to shoot a ball of electric energy at the angel. A projectile that had enough power in it to crush what little strength Pit had left in him.

Pit's mind was racing as he tried to think of some way to defend himself, the instinct to fight back and survive sparking inside him. He looked about him, and noticed his bow laying on the ground beside him. Remembering when he'd shot that arrow down the dragon's throat and the impact it had, he feebly reached over and picked his bow up. He then shakily rose until he was down on one knee, and loaded his bow. Just as Hewdraw was about to shoot the ball of energy, he released the arrow, and it went right into the dragon's mouth, and down its throat. Hewdraw threw his head back, and roared in agony, then fired its electrified projectile at the angel. Taken by surprise, Pit tried to shield himself with his wings, but it didn't do much, as the projectile dispersed on contact, and he clenched his jaw at the painful sensation of pure energy searing through him.

For a moment, he thought he was going to pass out, as he felt some of his remaining strength draining out of him. He quickly shook his head to clear it, then spread his wings and took flight, beating them as hard as he could. He began to rapidly flap them as he came to a stop and unsteadily hovered in the air. Hewdraw glared at the angel, fury blazing in its eyes, then shot another one of its grenades at the angel. But instead of flying away, Pit flew up and caught it, then threw it back at the dragon. It went into its mouth, and exploded there, as well as the next one it was about to shoot. Hewdraw lifted its head skyward in agony.

Hewdraw may have been immune to its own fire, but nothing can make a living creature immune to explosions, regardless of if the explosion is the result of their own product. Taking advantage of this, Pit shot another arrow down Hewdraw's throat, to which the dragon hurled another grenade at him, which he caught threw back into its mouth, where it exploded. For awhile, Pit was able to cycle through this process several times, before Hewdraw, who was now greatly weakened from this, finally figured out to not use that attack, and instead shot another one of its electrified balls of energy at the angel. Pit reacted by shooting an arrow at it, and the two created a sort of explosion upon hitting one another, bigger than that of the grenades. He wasn't sure if it would be enough to kill the beast, but he could think of nothing else.

At the next chance he had, he shot an arrow down Hewdraw's throat, and the dragon prepared to fire another one of its balls of energy. Pit loaded his bow, and aimed for the glowing ball in the back of the dragon's mouth. Right when Hewdraw released its energetic projectile, Pit released the arrow, and the two met right in Hewdraw's mouth. The result was enough to kill the massive dragon, and Hewdraw went up in a spiraling cloud of white energy.

As Pit flew back down to the shore, he suddenly felt really dizzy and delirious, and just about fell over as he came in for a rough landing. He took a single step, and collapsed onto the ground, exhausted and in serious pain. Gaol ran up to him, and picked him up, propping his head up against her shoulder as she carried him back to the camp. At the feeling of Gaol carrying him, he softly moaned, and partially opened his eyes, his gaze meeting Gaol's.

"You did it. You defeated Hewdraw, and retrieved another one of the Three Sacred Treasures. Only one more to go."

Pit slightly nodded.

"Yeah...and I'm grateful for your help...but that took a lot more out of me...than I expected it to..."

"No kidding. You look like you're ready to pass out."

Pit closed his eyes for a moment as he feebly fluttered the ends of his wings.

"I'm just...really tired...all that dodging and constantly moving around...wore me out..."

Upon returning to the camp, Gaol took Pit to her shelter, and put him down so he was leaning up against the wall. She put his bow down on the ground beside him, then picked up her own bow, and went in search of game to hunt. But as she started after a deer, she couldn't help but think that the tough exterior Pit had that hid his soft interior reminded her very much of a particularly close friend.


	25. Return to Skyworld

A bushy-tailed squirrel sat down at the base of a towering oak tree to nibble on a small nut it had in its paws. As it worked the nut with its teeth, trying to break it open, the squirrel suddenly got the sense something was watching it, and it started twitching its tail with agitation. At the same time, Pit froze where he was, anxiety tightly gripping his chest as the squirrel stopped nibbling on its nut and turned its head to look in his direction, hoping that the whiteness of his chiton wasn't too conspicuous in the shadows of the thick undergrowth. After a few tense moments, the squirrel went back to its nut. Not too far away, Gaol was watching Pit with great interest.

For the past several days, Pit had stayed with Gaol, in her shelter, recovering from the hard hits he'd taken during the fight with Hewdraw. Surprisingly, the giant free-fall hadn't hurt him as badly as Gaol thought it would, the most damage done being that a good portion of his rib cage had been crushed, resulting in it being somewhat painful for him to breathe deeply. It would still be awhile before his injuries healed up completely, but nonetheless, he had regained a lot of his strength, and he could now stand up on his own, and walk.

As the squirrel resumed working to crack the nut open, Pit continued to creep up on the squirrel, until he was about a foot away, where he stopped, and gathered his legs, preparing to make the catch. Ignoring the slight throbbing in his right leg, he pounced. The squirrel hastily stuffed the nut in its mouth, and tried to scamper away, but Pit was faster, and grabbed the critter up by its neck, in a closed death grip. The squirrel furiously clawed at him with its back legs, trying to make him let go of it. Its tiny nails drew blood, but he continued to tightly grip its throat. After awhile, the critter went limp, and its breathing stopped.

"That was an...interesting technique," Gaol remarked. "It's not too uncommon for people to physically catch and kill certain kinds of game, but not like that. That's gotta take some serious reflexes to be able to pounce like that."

"I guess so. I've always hunted that way."

"I see. Also, you seem to have a preference for small prey. Is there a reason for that, or is it just a natural thing for you to do?"

Earlier, Gaol had seen Pit attempt to catch a chaffinch, and then a magpie, neither of which he caught. He also tried to hunt a mouse. And now, he just brought down a squirrel. All of the animals he chose to hunt were relatively small, and Gaol couldn't see an immediate logical reason for why he would choose such small prey as a food source, when there was larger game, like deer and waterfowl around, that had a lot more value in them.

Caught off-guard by that question, Pit started to say something in response, but then quickly shut his mouth in hesitation and uncertainty. No one had ever pointed that out to him before, much less asked about it. To Pit, hunting small animals like rodents and songbirds was completely normal.  
It was a part of everyday life in the tribes. Even though his connection with the forest was now very faint and long-forgotten, and his memories of the forest beginning to completely fade away from his mind, pure tribal blood still ran in his veins, and he still instinctively retained many aspects of the tribe's way of life, including what he looked to as a food source.

"It's...It's just a normal thing for me, to hunt small prey."

"Huh. Well, I suppose if you're used to doing things the way you do, then it's something beyond me."

As they headed back to the camp, Gaol suddenly put her hand on Pit's shoulder and said something he very much did not expect.

"Pit, I think it's time you resumed your quest, and started making the journey back to Skyworld."

Pit briefly looked down at himself.

"You really think I'm well enough to?"

"If you can hunt by yourself, then you are. Have faith in yourself, Pit. If you believe you have what it takes to do something, then you do."

At that, Pit gratefully smiled at Gaol, who took her hand off of his shoulder and stopped in front of the camp, watching him. He went over to the shore where the fight with Hewdraw had taken place, and gazed up at the sky for a moment. A white dove flew overhead and up into the sky, until it disappeared. Feeling a sudden boost in his confidence, he arched up his back, spread his wings, and took off in the direction the dove had flown, his wings flashing bright blue as he left the ground.

As Gaol watched him fly away, she picked up the dead squirrel that he'd left behind, and smiled.

 _I'll never forget you, Pit. And I wish you luck on your quest. If there's one person who can defeat Medusa, it's you, Pit. Everyone here in Angel Land is counting on you..._

* * *

The sky was dyed a deep red-violet as the sun began to sink below the horizon. The fluffy clouds that dotted the sky turned a bright peachy-pink, the color of a mourning dove's plumage. The golden rays of the setting sun gave his brown hair a ginger-colored sheen. Seeing the sun setting so clearly very much reminded him of his home in Skyworld, and he began to ascend at a faster rate, thinking that if he was seeing something like this, that he was heading in the right direction.

Of course, he did not know exactly how to get back to Skyworld in terms of direction, but he wasn't absolutely clueless either, and he put to use the tribal instinct of taking particular sights and sounds as a sign of where to go, or what to do.

As he flew through a cloud, he suddenly found himself recalling his memories of when he was brought to Skyworld years ago, and being fascinated by how big it was. Curiosity filling him, he descended out of the cloud, and went into a steady glide, lagging a bit, so he could clearly see things.

It had been fascinating enough seeing the surface of the earth from the back of a Shemum, when he escaped from the Underworld, but that paled in comparison to the view he had now. Towering mountains that would seem colossal to someone on the ground looked like small, pointed rocks and pebbles. Huge prairies were reduced to sizable fields, and massive lakes and ponds were now like puddles.

 _Is this what the whole world is like, teeming with so much, yet it's all so small? I wonder..._

Pit is snapped out of his thoughts when he noticed a region of pure forest. He subconsciously came to a stop, and hovered, wanting to get a good look at it.

Up in the northern part of the forest was a small mountain range, bordered on one side by a gorge, and the other by moorland that covered a little less than a fourth of the region. Half of it was dense woodland, part deciduous, and part conifers. In between them was a stream, shored by marsh. The last part was made up of widely-spaced trees of various kinds, mostly birch and willow, and sandy rivershore. All four areas thinned out and became a patch of flat ground in the middle of the region, where there appeared to be a hollow containing four oak trees.

From somewhere deep inside him, something sparked. A side of him that he'd been born with, a wild instinct that ran in his blood. Something was telling him that he knew this place from long ago. As he tried to remember what it was, a single, once meaningful, name blotted its way into his brain.

 _Suntribe._

* * *

The sweet smell of fallen leaves filled the air. A red-haired apprentice stood beneath a maple tree on the border of Suntribe's territory, looking out at the vast prairie that lay beyond. But she was not really looking at anything; her gaze was clouded with grief, as she recalled the deep loss that she had been faced with as a kit.

Very few warriors knew now that what was currently known as a very dangerous place on Suntribe territory used to be the tribe's camp. A fire had driven the tribe to find a new location for their camp, in which a young mother fled from the forest, along with her two-year-old son, who she was planning to raise elsewhere, for the sake of his safety. Alas, she loses her life to the natural elements, leaving her son out in the wilderness, alone and helpless.

No one knows what happened to the kit, but most were quick to believe that he was dead too. A kit his age couldn't survive for very long without a mother, much less in the middle of leaf-bare, and he would only last a few days before the frigid cold and starvation claimed his life. It had been very devastating to her to think that she would probably never see her brother again, and for some time had wanted to end her own life, but when she is told that there was a slight chance he could still be alive, she was convinced to continue on with her life, hoping that she would someday be reunited with him.

 _Pikekit...I wish you knew just how much I miss you. And I hope that you haven't forgotten the forest, and the tribes who live here. I hope that you haven't forgotten me..._

As she slowly looked up, sweeping her clouded gaze across the violet-red sky, something catches her attention.

Looking not too far off into the sky was a small blue light, that twinkled and glittered like a lone star. Yet, it was far too light out for any of the lights of Silverpelt to be visible at this time. And the light was shining far brighter than any star she could ever remember seeing before. After a few moments, the light started moving away from the forest, and up into the clouds, shimmering light trailing behind it.

Suddenly, as the light disappeared into the clouds, something floated down out of the sky, and landed on the ground in front of her.

It was a feather, about as long as her hand. It was pure white, like a swan's plumage, and was long and straight, with a slightly rounded tip, the shape of a bird's wing feathers. Most of the feather was fuzzy down, meant to function as insulation, but the tip was sleeker, and the main quill was thick and stiff, built to withstand repetitive wing beats.

 _Huh...I wonder where this came from. There aren't any birds around this part of the forest, at least that I know of...  
_

She brought the feather up to her face and sniffed it, having taught herself to use scent as way of figuring out where something or someone has been recently, as the scent of certain things found in the location would cling to the object.

Immediately, the tangy aroma of feverfew and parsley hit her nostrils. The scent was fresh, and overwhelmingly strong, to the point she had to wait a moment, and let her brain get used to it. Underneath that was a hint of watermint and reeds, mingled with the stronger smell of loners. On the feather's underside there was also the scent of holly.  
It rather confused her; many of the plants she identified were used by the tribes as medicine herbs, and she knew that there were loners out there who knew how to use medicine herbs, albeit in different ways than the tribes. But why would those scents be on a feather?

 _Birds aren't that smart. They don't know different plants. And feathers only grow on birds. So how come..._

Suddenly, as she sniffed the base of the feather, a particular scent hit her nose. It was a scent so achingly familiar to her, one she'd known since she was born. Yet, it was so extraordinary to find it on a feather, so unusual for its place, that she sniffed the feather again, thinking her brain might be just toying with her. But it was not a trick; although very faint, it was clearly there.

Masked by the smell of wilderness, was the unmistakable scent of Suntribe.


	26. Chiron

By the time the sun first peeked up over the horizon, Pit could no longer see the ground at all. He'd flown right through the night, feeling that it would be a real pain to fly all the way back down to the ground, and that he would lose his sense of direction, and of which way to go to get back to his home. Not stopping to sleep hadn't been as hard on him as he'd expected, although he recognized now that his wings were rather sore from being used so much at one time.

As Pit began flying almost straight up, trying to ascend into the sky faster, he felt his ears twitch at the sound of a serpentine hiss. Seconds later, a Shemum plunged out of the gray clouds, its demonic gaze meeting Pit's, as it aimed itself to strike him. Far too close to shoot it, Pit abruptly swerved off to the side, to avoid the creature. But the Shemum was well-prepared, and it sharply turned as well, and sunk its fangs into his injured arm, tearing open the wound. Pit cried out in pain, then split his bow into its dual blades, and in one swift motion, beheaded the winged snake. He then pushed off with a hard flap of his wings, breaking through the tops of the clouds.

The solid mass of floating land came at him so quickly that to avoid hitting it, he had to turn so sharply that he lost his balance and began to fall. Luckily, the Wings of Pegasus allowed him to recover, then slowly ascend, to see what he'd come across.

It almost made his heart skip a beat to see what he was seeing. A series of floating islands with temple-like structures on them dotted the sky. He'd made it back to his home, back to Skyworld.

It wasn't without some change, though. What had been an endless expanse of blue sky was now shadowed by gray clouds. The structures appeared to have lost their luster, and were now rather faded and beaten up. Monsters were all over, more than Pit had ever seen in one place, and broken weapons and feathers lay strewn out on the ground.

For a moment, Pit forgot the terrible soreness of his wings, and he went into a steady glide so he could get a good look at what had become of his home. There was no sign of the centurions anywhere, other than the weapons and feathers that were laying around, and it made him uncomfortable.

A loud screech from behind alarmed him. He whipped around to see what it was, then braced himself as a Syren full-on dove at him, digging its talons deep into his sides. Another joined it, and the two relentlessly attacked the angel, clawing and tearing furiously at him. Pit took the ends of his bow and tried to fend them off, but the two creatures attacked in such rapid succession, that it didn't do much. What's more, his left arm was starting to go numb, the effects of the Shemum's venom kicking in.

With a sharp twist of his upper body, Pit managed to throw one of the Syrens off his back. He made an attempt to behead the creature, but the Syren nimbly dodged the attack, then flew backwards and let out a loud screech. As if the screech were a signal, the other Syren came down, and dug its talons into his forehead. Blood started to drip down his face and into his eyes. He could barely see the creatures as they came at him to attack. Forming his bow, he went into a mode of retreat, and took off as fast as he could go, trying to get away from the two creatures, and to one of the islands, where he could hide. But the creatures pursued him, and it wasn't until they managed to tear apart one of his wings did they finally lose interest in him. Unbalanced, he just barely managed to fly far enough to get to one of the islands, where he crash-landed, coming down hard on his left side.

Firmly clutching his left arm, which had now gone completely numb and useless, he made his way over to the structure that was on the island. It was a relatively small structure, with a rectangular entrance, and a circular extension on its far corner. Two statues shaped like griffins stood guard on either side of the steps leading up to the entrance.

Inside, it was dark, lit only by a small torch mounted on the wall. Even the natural light from outside didn't provide much illumination.

Suddenly, the ringed arrow of a centurion came out of the darkness, and flew just mere inches from his face. Narrowing his eyes, Pit could just make out the silhouette of a moderately-sized centurion hidden in the shadows.

"Who goes there?"

Startled by this, Pit just stood there and said nothing. He was completely clueless on what to make of the situation. The centurion shot another arrow at him, and Pit took a step back, in fear.

"Why are you here? What do you want?"

"I...I need your help."

At that, the centurion revealed himself. He was a bit bigger than Pit had thought, and had a somewhat muscular build. A quiver was strapped to his back, and in his left hand was a bow. Around his neck was a light blue crystal containing the insignia of Palutena's Army.

"Please pardon my antagonism. I just failed to recognize you. It's been awhile since I last saw you, Pit."

The centurion was Chiron. Chiron was different from other centurions, one way being that he was the only one of his size that used archery as his main method of combat. As well, he was the only one to be given an individual name. But what really set him apart was the fact he had a unique personality of his own. He had true feelings and emotions, and showed them. He had his own personal motives for certain things, and he possessed the ability to rely on his own strength and skills.

It is because of this that he was chosen to be a mentor for Pit. Palutena had hoped to direct some of his closeness away from her, and to Chiron, having not yet discovered that he was parentless, thinking that Chiron's individuality would help provide the angel with another adult figure for him to bond with. This failed, as Pit had come to view her as a mother to him at that point, and thus would always have a close bond with her, but it helped to socialize him, and he came to find a close friend in the centurion.

Upon getting a good look at Pit, and seeing how badly torn up he was, Chiron put an arm around the angel, and led him down a short hallway to another room. Here, the centurion had Pit sit down in a corner, with his back up against the wall. After a few moments of gathering some things, he began tending to the angel's wounds.

"Again, please pardon me if I scared you with my rather aggressive approach towards you. I did not expect to cross paths with someone friendly here, much less you specifically, Pit. And I'm very grateful to see you here, alive."

"What do you mean? What's been happening around here while I was gone?"

"It is my assumption you already know what has become of Palutena."

Pit nodded immediately.

"Yes, I do. But how? Where are all the other centurions?"

"Defeated and turned to stone by Medusa. After you were captured, she came to Skyworld, to take us down. We fought bravely, but nothing could prepare us for when she cast a wicked curse on us all, and turned us into useless stone. Only her defeat will lift that curse."

"But what about you? You're a centurion. Didn't you get turned to stone too?"

"Yes, but only temporarily. Remember Pit, I have a soul of my own, and I can rely on my own strength. So while I may have been immobile, I was not entirely lifeless. In my petrified state, I could still hear, and to some degree, see. I was able to find out what Medusa's plans were, and what had become of you. And it rather shocked me to find out her motive for this, besides taking revenge on Palutena for what she did to the dark goddess."

 _Besides taking revenge on Palutena?_ Pit recalled what Medusa had said to him almost a year ago, in the Underworld.

"Did it have something to do with me?"

Chiron abruptly looked up at the angel, slightly surprised.

"Yes, it did have something to do with you. Among the many things I discovered, Medusa spoke of the desire to make you, as well as Palutena, see what it was like to lose everything you've ever expressed care and concern over. She had mentioned telling you this, so as to discourage you from trying to escape, and give up all sense of hope."

"Which I did," Pit remarked, remembering the long, and torturing time that he spent being trapped in the Underworld. "I escaped and made the journey back here because Palutena told me in my dreams once that what I had been convinced of wasn't entirely true, and that if I went on this quest to gather the Three Sacred Treasures, and make my way back to Skyworld, I could defeat Medusa."

"Ah. I figured you would say something like that. Being only nine years of age, you're still at a point in life in which you are rather gullible, and it takes real persistence to make you think otherwise of what you have been convinced to be true or false. So I can see very plainly why it would take a slight push to encourage you enough that there was still hope."

The centurion had Pit turn over onto his side a bit, so he could examine the angel's wounded arm. He was rather shocked when he removed the torn bandage, and saw that the entire upper half of Pit's arm was just bare flesh.

"It is most startling to me that I'm not causing you some discomfort," Chiron remarked, as he started cleaning the wound. Such a deep and exposed wound as that would cause any living being pain, yet, Pit didn't seem to feel a thing.

"A Shemum bit me earlier, and now I can't feel my arm at all."

"Ah. Yes, Shemum venom can do that, cause you to lose the sensory in part of your body. Luckily, that effect is only temporary. Shemums aren't that dangerous, on their own. But what they lack in brawn they make up for in brains."

"You mean they're smart?"

"Smarter than most Underworld troops. Shemums are for the most part solitary, but when in battle, they know to come together and attack in large groups, as then their strength is multiplied. They know how to go for the kill, what to do, and where on their victims to strike. That is the explanation for why that Shemum that claimed Keto's life was so precise in its actions."

Pit felt his chest begin to grow heavy with sorrow at the mentioning of Keto's death. To Pit, the black-haired angel was more of an older brother, than a friend, and it hurt for him to remember watching Keto die right in front of him. Watching helplessly as the angel had his life torn from his grasp, knowing in the last moments of his life he was going to die.

"You okay, Pit? You look like there's something that's upsetting you."

Pit averted his gaze to the centurion and tried to say something, but couldn't bring himself to do so, and looked down at the ground.

"This is about Keto, isn't it?"

At that, Pit nodded slightly.

"...yes, it is. And I'd like it if you didn't bring up Keto, and how he died. He was like a brother to me, and watching him die right in front of me is a memory I don't like to recall."

Chiron put his hand gently on Pit's shoulder.

"I wouldn't be surprised if you are at all grateful that it was Keto who lost his life to that Shemum, and not you."

"Is that supposed to help me feel any better?"

Chiron sat down next to the angel.

"Maybe. But something Palutena hopes you have come to realize and understand is how much it means that you weren't killed in that battle against the Underworld Army. Not just to the existence of Skyworld, but to me, and most importantly, to her.  
Just as you saw a brother in Keto, Palutena sees a son in you. She values you as both one of her angel followers and as her adoptive child. When you were captured and taken to the Underworld, Palutena thought that she'd lost you forever, given the Underworld is meant for the dead. I was convinced of that too, until after the fight that led to our defeat, and Medusa revealed that you were still alive, albeit imprisoned. Knowing that you had what it took to end what has begun, she devised a way to contact you, and encourage you to set out on the quest. It took every last bit of her remaining power to telepathically communicate with you, and send you that bow of which you hold, a sacrifice she was willing to make."

Pit looked down at his bow, which he was loosely holding in his right hand. Its bladed edges shone brilliantly.

"I don't know why, but I feel like everyone expects more out of me than I can do. Like everyone expects me to be some kind of hero, when I'm just a nine-year-old angel who can't fly."

"Now Pit, you know that's not entirely true. Palutena expects virtually nothing like that from you, outside of your quest. The only thing she does expect is for you to just be yourself."

"Be myself?" Pit queried, utterly confused.

The centurion nodded once.

"Just be who you want to be. Don't let others tell you how you should be. Only you have the power to change who you are, and how you truly see yourself. And if others expect you to be a hero, you can choose whether or not to follow that path."

Chiron took his hand off of Pit's shoulder, and plucked out a loose feather from the angel's wing.

"And you don't have to look like a hero to be one. You might look soft, and not at all tough or physically strong, but that's not what lies deep inside you. You have an exceptionally strong will to fight back and survive. You're a lot smarter than most people your age, and you are quick to take in new information, and use it. So while you might not have the appearance of one, by heart and mind, you really are a hero."

Pit looked up at the centurion, and gave him a small smile. That was something he'd needed to hear. All throughout his journey, he'd had the lingering doubt about himself coming to meet other people's seeming expectations of him being something far greater than what he saw himself to be. It helped him to know that he didn't need to have that doubt on his mind.

"Now, I know this might seem rather sudden, but there is something you need to know about the third and final treasure."

"What's that?"

"You already know what it is to fight in a test of strength, and a test of speed. But you've never fought in a test of brains. And that is what you are up against. Unlike Twinbellows and Hewdraw, the one who guards the third treasure is highly intelligent, and cunning. The one you must confront is the goddess of calamity, Pandora."

"Isn't she one of Medusa's minions?"

"Yes, she is," Chiron remarked, with a surprised look on his face. "You learned that from Keto, didn't you?"

"Yes, I did. Keto sure knew a lot of stuff."

"You have probably heard Palutena mention this before, that Keto had the most brains out of all her angel followers. Like you, he too was quick to take in new information, and was an exceptionally fast learner, albeit he put his intelligence to use in rather...obnoxious ways. But he was the smart one, so it's no surprise that you acquired that info from him."

"But what I want to know is where Keto managed to learn so much. It's almost as if he'd lived here all his life."

At that, Chiron was silent for a moment.

"Well, he technically did. He was only a year old when he was brought here."

"Brought here?" Pit tilted his head in bewilderment.

"You do not know this, but many of Palutena's angel followers were born as humans, all of which were abandoned or orphaned when they were very young, and have no other family members to care for them, being left all by themselves to die. You yourself have been faced with such loss, and was later brought here to live in Skyworld, after Palutena caught sight of you curled up beneath a willow tree. You probably don't remember that, though."

Pit closed his eyes, deep in thought. He dug through his memory, trying to remember as much as he could of the first few years of his life. But the only thing he was able to recall was playing with a feather when he was two. He could recall nothing of his time in the forest. Nothing of his time in Suntribe. Nothing that hinted that he had been born as a normal kid.

"Anyway Pit, your understanding is correct. Pandora is one of Medusa's subsidiaries."

Chiron turned Pit over so his back was up against the wall again, and started tending to the angel's right leg.

"As I have previously stated, Pandora is the goddess of calamity. And she's a real force to be reckoned with. She knows how to play mind games with opponents, as a way of toying with them. She knows how to pull off misleading tricks that lend her the upper hand. It takes a real sharp mind and quick wits to outsmart her."

"But she's hard to miss, isn't she? I heard Keto say that once."

"You're right, she is hard to miss, given how unnatural her appearance is. She's also not that hard to penetrate. And that's where the final treasure can be used against her, just as the treasures Twinbellows and Hewdraw guarded could be used against them. And the treasure she guards is the Arrows of Light."

"And then Medusa...boy, I can't wait to settle the score with her."

Chiron couldn't help but chuckle amusingly at the angel's enthusiasm. Pit had proven to be a real big personality in a very little package. It is perhaps a good thing that the angel wasn't socialized early on in his life, as that is primarily what led to this rapid growth in his character. His sheer enthusiasm and how upbeat he tended to be did get slightly annoying at times, but on the bright side, it had made him very outgoing and easy to get on board with. You just couldn't not form some connection with him.

Apparently, his enthusiasm had also made him slightly impulsive.

"Pit, don't-!"

Pit had gotten to his feet, and was crouched down, with his wings spread out. He sharply sprang up, rapidly beating his wings in an attempt to fly, but his torn-up wing made him falter after a few moments, and he ended up coming down hard on his right shoulder, tumbling over, and hitting his head on the wall at the other end of the room.

For a moment, he lay there, in shock. It had completely escaped his mind that one of his wings was damaged, and that he couldn't fly with his wing torn apart like it was. Flexing his wings, he could feel them throbbing with soreness, not used to the amount of stress and rigor that had been put on them. He let them go limp and lay down at his sides, then he sat up and shook his head, dazed.

Rather stunned, Chiron quickly went over to Pit, and brushed the angel's wing as a gesture of grabbing his attention.

"That didn't hurt you to badly, I hope?"

Pit averted his gaze to the centurion.

"No...I didn't expect that, but I'm fine. It's just that my wings are really sore now. I don't think I've ever put as much stress on them as I did flying all the way from the ground to here."

"Which you haven't, given the first time you tried to use them, you were told that your wings were unable to serve the purpose they were meant for, and thus have never really subjected them to any real work. But I'm surprised you attempted to fly, in spite of your torn wing."

"I'd forgotten about it. My wing doesn't hurt from the damage done to it."

"Are you sure?"

Chiron ran his hand down the hard part of Pit's damaged wing, where the underlying bone structure was. About halfway between the two joints, he took the edge of the wing in his hand, and somewhat firmly applied pressure to it, sending an abrupt burst of sharp pain up the angel's wing, and into his back. It made Pit cry out in pain, and recoil his wings.

" _Ow!_ Okay, my wing _didn't_ hurt, until you did that. And what was that for?"

"Rather hard it is to me to believe that your wing is not causing you pain. I was testing to see if applying physical pressure to your wing would trigger it. And I was right."

"You didn't need to do it that hard. That really hurt."

Pit clenched his jaw as another sharp pang seared up his wing. At that, Chiron started to lightly chuckle.

"What's so funny?"

"I find it kind of amusing how you can be both very tough and very soft at the same time."

"What do you mean?"

"Hard it is to shatter the bright spirit that blazes in you, as well as your fierce will to survive. That's what makes up the tough side of you. Yet, you can be very sensitive, both physically and personally, and your young age makes you rather naive. And that's your soft side."

Pit tilted his head in confusion. He may have been smart for his age, but not so much in the way of vocabulary. Chiron laughed.

"It's okay Pit, I sometimes forget how limited of a vocabulary you have, and that it is easy to get you confused. But you get my point, that you can be both very tough and very soft at the same time. And that's one of the things I admire about you, Pit. The other being the amount of compassion and care that you carry in your heart. Although it is rather a mystery to me where that came from, as it appears to be a quality you were born with..."

As Chiron left the room, Pit couldn't help but think about that, and suddenly be reminded of his mother, Dovepool. But it was only her name he was able to recall; his memories of her had faded with the rest of his memories of the forest. Virtually every bit of his forest memories had slipped away from him, most likely never to be retrieved.

Suddenly, as he went to scratch the back of his neck, he felt his nails catch on something that felt like a thin piece of leather-like material. There was something around his neck that he didn't even know he had on. Immediately, he took it off and examined it.  
It was a necklace, simple in design, consisting of a large blue and green stone attached to a thin brown strap. The stone was flat and relatively smooth, like the stones you'd find at the bottom of a river.

It was his father's necklace, which had been given to him when he was a kit. He'd worn it all this time, and had forgotten about it.

And it was the only thing he had left of his life in the forest...


	27. Pandora

**Wow** , **this is taking me a lot longer than I thought it would. I know where I'm going with the story, I just didn't expect that coming up with the minor things that happen in between major events would take me so long. I'm pretty sure once I get past these next few chapters, I should pick up the pace a bit. Just two more chapters after this, and I'll be done with the storyline of the NES Kid Icarus. Whew! Almost there!**

 **When I started writing this first half of the chapter, I found myself become rather influenced by** ** _Sword Art Online: Phantom Bullet_** **, which I'd just recently read. I was inspired by Kirito's philosophy that "you can't erase the past, and your memories never disappear. So...all you can do is look them straight in the face and fight, so that you can one day accept their burden."**

 **And once again, have a good read, and a good day!**

The soft crackling of fire whispered through the air as Chiron lit a torch, and mounted it on the wall, its golden flames lighting up the darker area of the room. Pit sat in a corner, grooming his wings, which had regrown all their torn feathers.

"You ready, Pit?"

Pit looked up at the centurion, and quickly got to his feet, bow in hand.

"Yep."

The two went and stood facing each other in the middle of the room. Pit crouched down slightly, and partially spread his wings out, as though he were preparing to take off, in an attempt to fool the centurion into letting down his guard. But Chiron didn't fall for it, and loaded an arrow into his bow, so even if Pit were to take flight, he could still snipe him from afar with the arrow. At this, the angel charged, aiming for Chiron's chest. But the centurion saw it coming, and took off, firing the arrow down at Pit. He quickly darted off to the side to avoid it, then took flight, and fired his own arrow at his mentor. Chiron flew out of its range, and went to go shoot another arrow, when he realized that Pit was nowhere to be seen. As he glanced around, confused, he suddenly felt a mass of weight come down on him, landing on his head. Pit had flown up into the upper part of the room, where the light of the torches didn't reach, and hidden there, to try and catch his mentor by surprise.  
Pit had thoroughly expected that he would startle Chiron enough that, combined with his weight, the centurion would drop to the ground, and wasn't prepared for Chiron to keep himself in the air, and then furiously beat his wings, hitting the angel in the face with them. With a sharp twist of his body, the centurion threw Pit off of him, and the angel fell to the ground. Chiron landed a little ways away.

"Not a bad technique, catching me by surprise like that. But don't always expect the outcome to be what you think it will be. I could tell you weren't prepared for me to be able to remain airborne. Also, make the most of your wings, and not just for flight. As you saw, they can work as weapons in themselves. Try again."

Pit got to his feet, and took off again, but as he continued to practice fighting with Chiron, he felt something tug at the back of his mind. A strange feeling suddenly came over him, as a faint voice whispered to him.

 _Remember who you are, and where you came from, Pit..._

Something inside him told him he recognized the voice, but it was from a person he'd never met. Caught up in his thoughts trying to think why he recognized the voice, as well as figure out the strange feeling that had suddenly come to him, it scared the daylights out of him when he felt Chiron's weight suddenly drop onto his back, pulling him down.  
It took him a second to snap back into reality. Shaking his head to clear it, he remembered what Chiron had told him, and he furiously beat his wings, trying to get the centurion to let go of him, at the same time, slow his fall. Less than a foot away from the ground, the angel managed to sharply turn, causing the centurion to lose his grip on Pit's back, and hit the ground. He flew up and hovered for a second, before landing.

Slowly, the centurion got to his feet.

"Better, Pit. Although, for a decent amount of time, it seemed as though something had come over you. Something had preoccupied your brain. What was that about?"

Pit looked down, and scratched the back of his head.

"I...I don't know. And then I heard this voice say to me, 'Remember who you are, and where you come from, Pit'. It was a voice that I feel like I recognize, but...it's not the voice of someone I've ever met. I don't understand what it is..."

Chiron closed his eyes, deep in thought.

"How far back into the past do your memories span now? Is there anything from your early childhood that you can remember?"

"The earliest thing I can clearly recall now is when I first started training with you and Keto. And I can sort of recall telling some story to Palutena, something that had to do with my past. But I can't remember what."

"Had she asked you to explain something to her?"

"...Yes, she did, but I don't remember what she'd asked me."

"Is there anything you can remember saying to her? It's okay if you don't. Little details like that are hard to keep in your memory for a long time."

Pit was silent for a long while; the thing that was becoming clearest of that memory to him was when he'd had his emotional breakdown, after explaining how his mother had died. Thinking about that suddenly sent chills through him, as his memories of his mother's death started to play in his head. He felt tears start to well up in his eyes, and he bent his head down to try and hide his face from view, as he did not want the centurion to see him like this.

But this only grabbed Chiron's attention even more, and it slightly startled him when he felt Chiron put his hand on his shoulder.

"You okay, Pit?"

Pit did not answer him, nor did he look up at the centurion. His mind was too caught up in his memories to respond.

Chiron got directly in front of Pit, and put both of his hands on the angel's shoulders.

"Pit...?"

"Wh-what...?"

The angel slowly raised his head a bit, and looked up at the centurion. Chiron did not say anything, only gave him a surprised look. It was then that it occurred to Pit he was actually crying, not just tearing up. He hadn't cried like this in a long time, and never in front of someone, other than Palutena.

"Pit, is something wrong? You've become emotional around me before, but not to this extent. Maybe I should not have asked about what you said to Palutena, in regards to your past..."

But Pit shook his head slightly.

"No...it's not that...I just..."

Pit was about to try and explain that he was crying over his loss, but found himself lost on what to say. Besides Palutena, no one else knew of the tragedy he'd been faced with as a child, and how that continued to haunt him despite how long it had been since then. Because of that, he felt like his emotional breakdowns were his and his alone, and that he had no way of getting other people to understand.

Chiron must've picked up on this, for he nodded once in understanding.

"I take it you feel that what you are having to deal with is something you cannot explain to me, or anyone."

"...yes, I do...and I wish I didn't have to..."

Pit turned and started to walk away, wanting to go somewhere alone, but Chiron put his arm around him, and kept him from doing so.

"You've been trying to hide this inner conflict all these years, haven't you?"

Pit nodded slightly.

"And...that's why...I try not to think about the past...If I just turn my back on the past, and forget it...then I won't have to...deal with this anymore..."

For years, Pit had felt that the only way to no longer deal with his emotional recalls was if he just put the past out of his mind, and focused on the future. That partially explained the upbeat part of his personality; it was his way of trying to escape his problems, and not have to deal with them. But after witnessing Keto's death, and being the only survivor of the battle, he realized just how much of a coward he'd been in trying to run away and hide from the past; in trying to forget it, to avoid it, and act as if it didn't exist. Unable to bear the negative feelings suddenly being weighed on him, he buried his face in the centurion's chest, and let his emotions spill forth.

Surprised, Chiron put both his arms around Pit, and held him close. He took him to the corner of the room, and sat down. He comfortingly rubbed the angel's back, stroking his wings.

"Pit..."

Pit raised his head a bit, and looked up. Streams of tears were running down his cheeks.

"Pit...I know this is going to be hard, but it is futile to try to run and hide from your past. It doesn't help to try and be rid of the memories you have of it, because you can't. No matter how hard you try, or how far you run, something of the past will come back to you, and you cannot forget it, however faint your memories may be. All you can do is face the past head-on, think about the lighter times you've had, and accept what you've lost."

"...B-but...facing my past would mean I'd have to...deal with my emotions...and how am I supposed to do that...when no one else would understand...?"

"That's not true, Pit. There are many other people out there who have experienced and suffered much loss, like you have. Among them is me."

"...y-you...?"

The centurion nodded.

"Angels have been around for countless generations. It was only a few centuries ago they started living here, in Skyworld. But over time, it came to be that only a small handful of them were "pureblood" angels, angels who only interbred with their own kin, and never introduced others into their line. Among them was one named Antonio. An outcast he was, for he was born with a deformed wing, and could not fly. But he was very intuitive, and quick to tune in to others' feelings.

Back then, I'd only been just simply a centurion with a human soul, as my mindset was no different from others of my kind. I had no concept of individuality. But that changed when one day, he took notice of the unique spirit I possessed, and decided to teach me to the ways of the human mind, teaching me to think, to reason, the concept of feelings and emotions, and of personality. Thanks to him, I became the individual being that I am. But it was only just a few weeks after he and I ended our training I was faced with losing him; he became very sick, and no one could find a possible cure. For almost two weeks, he lay in his bed, coughing and running a high fever. All the while, I searched high and low for some way I could help him push past his illness. But ultimately, there was no way of avoiding the inevitable, and one day, when I came to check on him, he was completely motionless. It wasn't until I picked him up in my arms that he responded to me, and I didn't have to guess to know he was dying.

For a long time, I stood knelt down in his room, holding him in my arms. It deeply pained me to see him suffering like that. After a few moments, he told me that he was proud of how far I'd come, and that I was off to a bright future. The last thing he said to me was, "Goodbye... _Chiron_..." He died right in my arms, as I was holding him. And he was only fourteen years old when he died.

Even now, my memories of Antonio dying in my arms still come back to me, just as your memories of finding your mother dead come back to you, and bring their emotions back with them. And like you, I tried to turn my back on the past, and erase it from my memory. But after a few months, I realized the mistake I'd made, in trying to run and hide from the past, when there was nowhere for me to run. I was being a complete coward. It took me some time before I came to the conclusion that the only thing I could do to overcome my problem was to face the past, think about all the good times I had with Antonio, and accept his death. A very hard and even twisted path it was to follow, but I was able to overcome my emotions."

For a second, there was a flicker of sorrow in the centurion's gaze, but it quickly went away.

"You see Pit, you're not alone in being haunted by the tragedies of your past. There are other people out there who know what it's like to lose someone they love, and then be constantly reminded of that loss, when they have no wish to remember. It's just having the strength and encouragement to face the reality of it, and accept the past to overcome it."

Pit did not say anything. Chiron had never even shown any sign of his mind being tormented by the past, and it was a real shock to him to discover the secret Chiron had kept all this time. But at the same time, his mind was also fighting with the reality that he needed to face his past if he was going to overcome his emotions. Thinking about this, he found his forest memories starting to come back and become fresh in his memory, and he couldn't help but begin to cry again. But mixed with the sorrow of remembering the two years he'd spent in the forest, was the joy and relief of finding out there were other people out there that understood the kind of loss he'd been faced with, and of finding a way of overcoming the part of his past that had haunted him for so long.

After several moments, Pit sat up, and wiped the tears away from his eyes. He gave Chiron a small smile, to which the centurion smiled back, and for a second, the two just exchanged glances, both knowing what the other was thinking. Finally, Chiron broke the silence.

"It's time you resumed your quest, and took on Pandora."

Slightly caught by surprise, it took a second for Pit to respond. He nodded at the centurion, and got to his feet.

"Right."

He went over and picked his bow up off the ground, then followed the centurion outside.

"Pandora is residing on an island in Skyworld," Chiron explained. "You actually can see it from here. It's hard to see, but there's an island way over there that has a laurel tree growing near its structure."

"You mean that one?"

Pit pointed to an island off in the distance, partially hidden by the temple of another island closer to them. The green of a tree canopy could be seen at the foot of a round structure.

"Yes, that's the island. Let's go."

Chiron jumped off the island and took flight, and Pit went after him.

"How do you know Pandora is residing on that particular island?" Pit queried, as they flew.

"Chance encounter. Shortly after I escaped from being petrified, and fled to this part of Skyworld, I decided to check the islands, see if all the centurions besides me really had been turned to stone. And when I checked that island, I was ambushed by the goddess. I barely made it out alive. Which explains this."

The centurion raised his arm up, revealing a large burn scar under his arm, and on his side.

"Pandora's hard to beat. She tries to use the element of surprise to get the first hit in. You gotta just be ready for anything."

"No problem."

Pit flashed the centurion a wry grin, which he returned with the same.

Suddenly, as Pit and Chiron were coming in to land, a flaming blue ball of energy shot out of the shadows of the structure, and flew right up in to the angel's face, where it dispersed. Blinded and stunned, Pit stumbled backwards, and just about fell off the island. He quickly snapped out of it, shaking his head a few times to clear it.

"Not a bad shot, if I do say so myself. I knew you were coming."

Pit rapidly blinked against the glare that still obscured his vision. He could've sworn he saw a mass of blue flames inside the structure.

"Come in here if you wish to fight me...if you can."

It barely registered when several more flaming balls flew out the darkness, towards the angel. Pit darted off to the side, dodging three of them, then dove forward to avoid the rest. As his vision finally cleared up, he saw two flaming discs coming flying towards him. He tried to dodge them by darting to the side again, but quickly realized these projectiles were homing in on him, and thus would follow him. Upon seeing this, Chiron stepped in, and shot two arrows. Both hit home, and the discs exploded.

Pit proceeded to the entrance of the structure. A laurel tree stood at the foot of the entrance, its bright green canopy shading the entry path. As he walked by, Pit could've sworn he heard a dove cooing from somewhere up in the tree, but he didn't think much of it, and entered the structure.

Inside, it was a like a large, circular chamber, the floor decorated with intricate designs. It was relatively well lit by the light coming in from the entrance, although the dome overhead was shrouded in darkness.  
There was no sign of Pandora anywhere. Pit had expected to see her, given Chiron had noted how unnatural her appearance was, so it really surprised him that he couldn't see her anywhere in the room.

Suddenly, as he was glancing around, he heard a dull _thud_ , and the room became pitch black. Unable to see, he wildly looked this way and that, aimlessly wandering around, and reaching out in the darkness, trying to find something solid. After a few moments, as he reached out in front of him, two glowing white eyes and a black mouth bordered by dark violet appeared in front of him. The eyes flashed as they appeared.

"Looks like you're gonna be easy prey for me."

That was enough to terrify Pit, and he scrambled backwards, tripping over his own feet, and hitting his head on one of the columns that ringed the chamber. In the center, there was a blinding flash as Pandora revealed herself, and numerous torches that lined the room lit up. Their flames were blue with Pandora's energy.

Leaning up against the column for balance, Pit slowly got to his feet. He felt really lightheaded. Rubbing the back of his head, he found that a portion of his hair was wet, and he didn't have to guess to know that the back of his head was bleeding. He quickly went behind the column, in the space between the column and the wall, and sat down, feeling like he was going to pass out. Chiron noticed him, and quickly flew over to him.

Pit, are you okay?"

"No...I hit my head on the column...really hard..."

He clenched his jaw as he rubbed the back of his head. Chiron noticed that the angel's hands were blood-stained, and he had Pit bend forward so he could examine his head. Upon seeing how much blood there was, he picked the angel up in his arms, then flew up into the narrow space where all the wooden beams were holding up the dome. Pit squirmed a bit in discomfort, then nestled his head down further and relaxed. Chiron carefully set him down where the top of the wall was, leaning him up against one of the beams, and set about trying to find where the actual wound was. It wasn't easy; he had to go and part Pit's hair to see his scalp, due to how thick his hair was, and all the blood resulted in sections of his hair being stuck together. Luckily, the wound itself turned out to be relatively small, and that it was from Pit rubbing it that there was so much blood.  
Pit softly whimpered at the feeling of the wound on his head being exposed. Chiron quickly combed down the angel's hair, then firmly pressed his hand where the wound was. After several moments, he took his hand away, then had Pit sit up a bit so the wounded area of his head was up against the beam.

"You rest here, Pit. I'm going to go see if I can find the third treasure."

Pit just nodded slightly.

As Chiron took off, Pit partially opened his eyes and glanced around a bit. His vision was blurred, and it was hard to focus his eyes on anything. After a few seconds, looking around was starting to make him feel nauseous, and he shut his eyes and sighed.

* * *

Chiron proceeded around the edge of the room, trying to be sneaky. Pandora seemed strangely interested in Pit, but she did nothing more than just gaze at him from her position in the middle of the room.

As he was passing by the part of the chamber opposite of the entrance, Chiron suddenly noticed a pair of tiles on the floor that appeared to not be cemented down. Taking care to not make any sudden movements, he felt along the cracks, and found on both tiles there were notches in them. These notches allowed him to get a firm grip on them, and lift them up out of the ground, revealing something beneath the temple floor. It looked like a labyrinth of some kind.

 _The third treasure must be hidden in here somewhere._

Chiron was about to put the tiles back in place, when he heard Pit cry out for help. Alarmed, he looked up to see what it was, and was shocked to see Pandora floating up near where Pit was, relentlessly shooting projectiles at him. Terrified, Pit cowered behind one of the beams further back in the crevice of the dome's infrastructure, like a frightened animal being lashed out at through the bars of a cage.

"Little pest! You can't hide from me!"

Pandora snarled, and shot a barrage of flaming balls at the angel. Out of pure fear, Pit ducked down and shielded his head with his arms. A good number of them landed, and Chiron could see the look of pain and terror on Pit's face as they hit, and dispersed.

"Chiron, help me!" Pit cried out in fear, as Pandora released another flaming disc at him, which hit the beam he was hiding behind, blasting it to splinters.

A part of Chiron wanted to jump in and help the angel, but he could tell from how intensely interested the goddess was in Pit that trying to distract her wouldn't do much, and there was no way he could get in there without getting hit. Instead, it was Pit that had to make a move.

"Pit! I know this is risky, but try to move forward a bit, where the dome isn't so low, and make a run for it! So long as you're up there, Pandora can't get to you unless she shoots at you! So get to where it's higher, and run!"

At first, Pit was skeptical that it would work, but he didn't really have a choice. Anxiety creeping up his spine, he got down into a crouch, and started to move closer to Pandora. As soon as he was where it the dome arched up higher, he got to his feet, and took off, nimbly climbing through the wooden infrastructure. But Pandora was quick, and she shot a flaming ball at the beam he was coming down on. It successfully hit, and the beam snapped. Pit reached up and grabbed hold of the beam fragment that loosely dangled over the chamber, clinging to it as tightly as he could. Pandora smiled gleefully, and continued to tirelessly shoot at him. The endless stream of attacks caused the piece of beam to wildly jostle and bounce around, and Pit struggled to hang on, trying to keep himself from falling.

"Hold on, Pit!"

Chiron shot a single arrow at Pandora. She let out an agonizing yell, then turned her attention to Chiron. The centurion flew up into the wide open dome, and continuously shot a stream of arrows down at her. Most of them missed, as Pandora was able to guess where the arrows were aimed to go, but there were a few shots that landed right on the mark. At one point, Chiron flung a rock at the goddess, and it hit.

" _Chiron!_ "

Pit's desperate cry made both Chiron and Pandora turn their attention to him. He was barely hanging on. The angel kept re-positioning his hands, trying to keep his grip on the beam, and there was a pained look on his face, as his strength was giving out. He furiously beat his wings, trying to ease the stress being put on his arms, but it didn't seem to do much.

Pandora smirked devilishly. Taking advantage of the moment, she shot a fire ball at Pit. It hit the wooden beam, causing it to jostle. Pit cried out in fear, frantically clawing at the beam, trying to hold on. But as he hung there, exerting all his strength into clinging to that piece of beam, Pit suddenly felt a rush of dizziness, and he lost his grip on the beam. At the same time, Chiron flew over and hovered beneath the falling angel. Pit landed in his arms. The centurion then flew back down, and set Pit safely on the ground. The angel staggered upon being put down, for he hadn't entirely snapped out of his wave of fatigue.

Pandora didn't waste a second; she hurled a bright orange ball of energy at the two. They both leapt off to the side to dodge it, in opposite directions.

"Pit, here!"

Pit looked to see his mentor toss him his bow, which he'd dropped upon hitting his head. He neatly caught it, then took flight alongside Chiron, and the two attacked as a pair, trading off from close combat to ranged, and vice versa. Occasionally, both would take to the air, and fire arrows down on the goddess. Pit sometimes would get a rush of delirium, or would start to feel nauseous from all the visual movement, but it didn't take long for him to snap out of it. Chiron noticed that Pit kept getting distracted by this, and he knew that the angel really shouldn't be engaging in rigorous activity like this after hitting his head, but he didn't really have a choice here.

It didn't help at all that Pandora was targeting Pit, trying to take advantage of his condition. Her constant attacks were overwhelming the angel, and he could hardly find the chance to catch his breath. As well, he was starting to feel lightheaded again from the amount of stress being put on his head, and it was beginning to take longer for his nausea to subside. Heavily fatigued, Pit flew up into the infrastructure of the temple, where he collapsed onto his hands and knees with exhaustion. Chiron swiftly dodged a fire ball Pandora shot at him, and then flew up to where Pit was.

"Pit, you can't give up now."

The angel wearily looked up at Chiron. His sides were heaving.

"I'm not...I just...can't handle her targeting me...it's...wearing me out..."

"I bet it is. And you really shouldn't be engaging in stressful activity such as fighting after hitting your head like you did. However, I know where the third treasure is."

"Where...?"

"Under the temple floor. I found what looks to be a labyrinth under the floor of this temple, and I've got a feeling the third treasure is hidden down there."

"Oh...how do you...get down there?"

"There are two tiles in the floor that can be removed, creating an opening to the labyrinth."

Chiron suddenly then thought of an idea.

"I'll take you to where the opening is, and then you can go find the treasure. I'll distract Pandora."

"Okay...do you know where...in the labyrinth it is?"

"No. I would've gone and searched for it, but Pandora took an odd interest in you, and I didn't want to risk you being attacked without me."

"I see."

Pit slowly rose to his feet, and got on the centurion's back. As Chiron flew down to where the tiles were still out of their cavity, he grabbed one of the torches, and pulled out of the wall.

"Here, Pit. It looked to be pretty dark in there."

He gratefully took the torch from him.

Chiron swiftly landed in front of the cavity, where Pit slid off of the centurion's back, and down the hole. His mentor had been right; there _was_ a labyrinth under the temple floor. And just as Chiron had figured, it was dark in there. But thanks to the torch he'd been given, he was able to get a good idea of the labyrinth. In the flickering light of the torch's bright azure flame, Pit could see its walls were raw, untouched rock, having been excavated from the island on which the temple stood, although the ground was pale brown earth, and very fine and powdery, like the dust of dry soil that has been well-trodden on.

Pit started making his way through the labyrinth. As he neared the center, he found the paths got narrower, some to the point he couldn't get through without scraping his arms and legs against the rough wall. To aid in not getting lost, he marked where he'd been by making three marks on the ground every couple of feet, and one crossing the three if the path led to a dead end. That way, he'd know where he'd already been, and would try to find another way to go.

Suddenly, as he started walking down a narrow path, the torch's flame was extinguished somehow, and everything became shrouded in pitch darkness. Trying to refrain from panicking, he put his hands on the walls, and used his sense of touch to know where to go. He could no longer see ahead of time if the path was getting narrower, and it resulted in him badly scratching up his arms.

After a moment, he heard the serpentine hiss of shemums in the darkness ahead, followed by the screeching of syrens. Before he could prepare himself, he felt talons sharp as blades dig into the back of his neck. Pit yelped in pain, and sharply whipped around, slamming his right shoulder against the wall in the process. But the syren had already flown out of sight.

For a few seconds, Pit hesitated. He was apprehensive about proceeding, given it was hard to see, but the presence of monsters likely meant the third treasure was up ahead. Ears pricked, listening for the sound of the monsters, he continued down the narrow path.

The walls suddenly rushed away as Pit entered an open space. He'd reached the center of the labyrinth. He still couldn't see, and upon entering the small chamber, he instinctively twitched his ears, listening for the sound of monsters nearby.

It barely even registered when he heard a faint snarl, followed by a sharp, piercing pain as something sunk its fangs into the back of his thigh. Pit cried out in pain, then turned around in search of the creature, or at least some sign of it, but there was nothing. On impulse, he wildly shot an arrow into the darkness. In response to the sound of the bow as the arrow was released, there came a series of soft, high-pitched _eep-eep-eep!_ as numerous little monsters began swarming around the angel, like a mob of startled moths. Pit swatted and smacked at them, trying to get them to go away, but the refused to stop. Without thinking, he tried shooting at them, but that only made them angry, and they actually began to attack him, scratching his face and his limbs with their little nails as they flew around. A few even opted to bite him. At that, Pit realized what they were: _Shootflies_. That explained why they didn't attack until he shot that arrow.

A part of him felt stupid for not realizing that the little, big-eared creatures liked dark places such as this, and that there was a good chance he'd come across them. Shootflies were a real pain to deal with, since they attacked in swarms, and could be avoided by not using ranged attacks around them, but the presence of other monsters, plus the fact he couldn't see, made it inevitable that this would happen. In a desperate attempt to get the things to go away, Pit shielded his face with his arms, and rapidly fluttered his wings, hoping to hit them with his wings, and beat them off.

That was when he found that he wasn't entirely blind, for in the process of flapping his wings, he unintentionally triggered the Wings of Pegasus. The bright glow that surrounded his wings as the treasure was activated lit up the chamber.

 _Eeep!_ Startled by the sudden light, some of the Shootflies flew up into the shadows of the upper half of the chamber. Pit stopped flapping his wings, which continued to glow, and started relentlessly attacking the remaining ones with his bow, killing most of them. The rest he took care of by shooting at them, which they strongly didn't like, the constant sound of the bow as an arrow was released hurting their ears. He also managed to shoot down a Syren that had been hiding up in the darkness.

Pit glanced around the chamber, now that he was able to look around. He found that unlike the rest of the labyrinth, the chamber walls were stone bricks, and not bare earth. Numerous chests, vases, pots, and other artifact-like things lay around. A lot of them had decorations of angels and angel wings and feathers on them, and Pit couldn't help but wonder what they were doing here, and how long they'd been here.

Suddenly, he noticed a large vase that had etchings of snakes on it, and snake-shaped handles. The vase wobbled, and a little Shemum leaped out of it, followed by three larger ones.

On a whim, Pit shot an arrow at the vase, but it didn't do anything except cause two more to come out, these two larger than the first four. Another small one also came out.

"How many of you guys are in there?!"

That question was to no one in particular, but it was hard to believe that so many Shemums could come out of one vase. He split his bow into its dual blades, and managed to behead three of them, but the two large ones manage to get to him, and the small one managed to sink its fangs into his ankle.

Pit felt a familiar tingling sensation travel up his foot and his leg, as his foot started to go numb. As one of the other shemums advanced, Pit stepped back, stumbled, and fell onto his back, knocking over a tall vase. There was a blunt _scrack_ as the clay vase broke upon hitting the hard ground. Pit tried to get to his feet, but found he couldn't move or feel his right foot at all, and he fell sideways whenever he tried to balance on it.

Taking advantage of this, one of the larger shemums wrapped its long tail around Pit's waist, and snatched him up off the ground. Fear crawled up the angel's spine as the serpent parted its jaws, revealing its long saber-tooth fangs, eyes gleaming with hunger for killing. Looking at those gleaming eyes, Pit suddenly found himself being mentally taken back to that battle when he learned of the silent war that had been going on between the Underworld and Skyworld; _when Keto had lost his life to a shemum, and died right at Pit's feet_. Pit closed his eyes, trying to block out the memory, but then he remembered what Chiron had told him.

 _All you can do is face the past head-on, think about the lighter times you've had, and accept what you've lost._

Instantly, all the memories he had of Keto flashed through his mind; from the time he first met Keto, to when Keto had knocked him off the island, to when Keto died. It was overwhelming him, the amount of emotion that was coursing through him as he recalled all of these memories, and he tightly shut his eyes and tensed up, trying hard not to lose it completely.

 _Think about it...and accept it...It's just having the strength and encouragement to face the reality of it, and accept the past to overcome it._

Pit clenched his jaw, trying hard not to let loose the sobs that threatened to escape from his throat.

 _Why is this so hard? I've faced and overcome everything else. So why can I not get over my past? Why does this have to be so...difficult?_

 _"Emotions are not an easy thing to overcome, Pit. There will be times in which you feel like you're the only person in the world, and that you're trapped in this isolation. But don't give up. Let others give you the motivation to overcome that hurdle. In time, you will realize that it is worth enduring the pain of facing and accepting your loss."_

"K-Keto...?"

Pit opened his eyes and glanced around, but saw no one. What he did see though was the shemum preparing to bite his exposed throat, and he tried his best to refrain from panicking, knowing it would only further urge the snake to bite him.

 _I am not going to meet the same fate as Keto. That is not happening!_

Hunching up his shoulders so as not to risk getting bitten, he twisted to one side and tried to free one of his arms. But the shemum only tightened its grip on him, wrapping the entire length of its tail around the angel, putting the tip near the angel's head. Without thinking twice about this, he reached down and bit the tip with his canines. The snake let out an agonizing cry that sounded like a cross between hissing and shrieking, and dropped Pit. He swiftly got to his knees, and shot an arrow at the creature's face. It went in its mouth, as the winged serpent lashed out at just the right moment for the glowing arrow to go down its throat. The shemum vanished in a cloud of purple energy.

Pit tried firing an arrow at the vase that the shemums were coming out of, but again, it didn't do anything. Out of simple rage, he threw one of the blades of his bow at it. But this time, there was a satisfying _chink_ as the blade went into the side of the vase, and little bits of hardened clay fell onto the ground.

"I see. Those vases are only immune to fired projectiles."

Pit swiftly beheaded two shemums, then picked up a rock, and threw it at the vase. A web of cracks appeared where it hit the vase, and part of the vase's handle broke off. The angel then got to his feet, leaning up against the wall, and took flight, slicing off the wings of three others.  
He flew up to the vase, and pulled out the blade he'd thrown. He then began relentlessly attacking the thing, trying to break it. The shemums apparently didn't like this, and they started coming out at a faster rate than before. One small one managed to bite the base of his left wing, near where it connected to the angel's back. Pit threw himself against the wall, killing the little snake, as he came down and painfully hit the ground.

Spreading his one good wing out for light, Pit slowly got onto his hands and knees, and looked around. That was when he saw the glow of his wings reflect off of something behind the shemum vase. It was a golden casket.

 _That's it!_

Pit shakily got to his feet, and made his way to the casket, propping himself up against the wall. Like the first two, the inside of the casket glowed brightly upon being opened, but before Pit could see what was in it, two shemums wrapped their tails around him, and pulled him away. A third one went to close the casket.

But just when the serpent would've closed it enough to latch it shut, The inside began to shine brighter than it had before, and trails of pure light flew out, and over to Pit, who was trying to deal with the two shemums. They spiraled around him, and appeared to flow into him, killing one of the shemums as it went to strike.

Pit tightly shut his eyes as the lights were absorbed into his body, and pure energy began to course through him. After a few moments, the feeling went away, and the angel looked down at himself in utter astonishment.

He was wearing a full set of armor over his chiton. The mirror shield that had been on his back was now strapped to his left arm. The arms of his bow no longer looked like two blades, instead were now pure golden, the bulk of their bases separate from the rest of the arm, and curving outward slightly at the ends. Glowing growths shaped like feathers sprouted out all along the arms, like optical wing feathers. Shaking his head, which surprisingly didn't hurt to do, he found that he had on a lightweight helmet that covered the back and sides of his head, including his ears, and partly covered the area between his eyes, so only his face was exposed, for the most part.

The Three Sacred Treasures had been made whole again.

On a whim, he tried splitting the ends of the bow to attack one of the shemums as it drew near, and to some surprise it did. The bow end in his right hand flashed white, and almost instantly he attacked, beheading the winged serpent with a sharp, diagonal slash with the bow end. Yellow streaks trailed shortly behind the end of the bow as he swung it, and turned white as he launched into another attack, killing three others. The fluency of his movements as he transitioned from one attack to another made it seem like the treasures had a mind of their own.

It didn't take long for him to wipe out the swarm of shemums, and he didn't waste a second to resume trying to break the shemum vase. Finally, as he struck its base, the thing turned white and shattered, disappearing in a cloud of dark purple energy.

Pit briefly glanced around, to make sure he didn't miss anything, then spread his wings, and started heading out of the labyrinth.

* * *

Chiron flew up into the dome, and shot several arrows at the goddess. Most of them missed, but two managed to hit home. Pandora let out an ear-splitting screech, and teleported out of Chiron's site, before shooting two balls of energy at him. Dodging one, he turned and fired at the other, causing it to explode. He briefly glanced at the hole in the floor, before flying up into the infrastructure, and sniping at Pandora from there.

 _Pit...I hope you didn't get yourself in trouble down there..._

As if on cue, Chiron saw a gentle glow come up from the dark hole. The glow grew brighter as he heard a loud battle cry.

"Three Sacred Treasures, do your thing!"

There was a bright flash that lit up the room, and numerous arrows shot up out of the hole, and rained down on the chamber of the temple. Many of them managed to land a hit on Pandora, due to how many there were. Pit then flew up out of the hole, and rapidly fluttered his wings to hover.

Chiron didn't have to think twice to know that Pit had done it. The angel looked up at his mentor, and smiled.

Pandora was shocked when she saw Pit, who gave her a dangerous glare.

"Who's the easy prey now?"

Pandora narrowed her eyes.

"Big talk, little angel."

And the two instantly started fighting. Chiron stayed up in the infrastructure, knowing Pit had what it took now to defeat Pandora.

It was fascinating just how quickly and smoothly Pit transitioned from one attack to another. It was as though the treasures had their own will, and were leading Pit through the transition. Pandora was quickly overwhelmed by how swiftly Pit moved around and attacked, and she started to try and keep her distance, so Pit couldn't get close enough to attack her directly.

But Pit saw this coming, and he flew up into the dome. Loading an arrow into his bow, he prepared to fire it, but stalled for a moment. He focused his gaze on the tip of the arrow, channeling his energy into it. The arrow turned yellow, and grew, at which point the angel released it, shooting it skyward. His bow flashed as he released the arrow, and several other arrows followed, raining down on the temple chamber. Pandora screeched at the feeling of being penetrated, then shot several of her own projectiles. Pit flashed the mirror shield in front of him, deflecting them. Some went back and hit their shooter, much to Pandora's agony.

After several moments of shooting at one another, Pit decided to lay the final hit, and loaded another arrow, again stalling and concentrating his energy. But he did not shoot it up into the air. Instead, he aimed right for the goddess. It struck its target perfectly, and Pandora went up in a cloud of white and purple energy. Her flaming remains still lay on the ground, but they did not bear life of any kind.

The door to the temple opened, revealing an orange-pink sky as the sun was beginning to set. Pit shielded his eyes from the intense glare as he and Chiron headed out of the temple. Chiron came up beside him, and patted his back.

"You did it, Pit. The Three Sacred Treasures are whole once more. Now we can take down Medusa, and take back what is ours."

Pit smiled at that, his eyes blazing with determination. Although in his heart, he couldn't help but feel a tiny spark of grief, for he realized now that Medusa was responsible for Keto's death, as well as the deaths of the others. The monsters weren't attacking on their own will; Medusa was using them as army troops. That shemum that had claimed Keto's life had done so because the dark goddess ordered it to. So it slightly hurt to think about the Underworld goddess, knowing it was because of her that he lost his friend.

 _Ke-er, re-et! Kee-ree-et!_ A rowdy call snapped Pit out of his thoughts, and he saw a large seabird standing atop one of the short pillars in the clearing. It was all white except for its slender wings, which were silver-gray, and the back of its head and neck was jet black. The feathers on its neck stuck up to form a fluffy crest.

 _Huh...what's a seabird like you doing here?_

As though to answer him, the bird looked directly at him, revealing familiar-looking dark brown eyes, as its calls started to sound like it was saying a name.

 _Kee-et, to! Kee-to!_

 _Keto._


	28. Final Confrontation

The silver-haired queen went to her usual spot under one the great oaks, and leaned up against its trunk. She closed her eyes for a moment, and let her other senses take over. The sound of battle soon filled her ears, and when she opened her eyes, in the starry mist, she saw her son locked in combat with a fiery being that seemed to defy the laws of nature, disappearing and reappearing, and sinking into the ground to jump up and attack. The angel swiftly dodged her attack, and immediately launched into an attack of his own.

"He's becoming quite the fighter," a familiar voice came from behind. "I'm rather proud of him."

Dovepool looked back as her mate came up and put his arm around her.

"Yeah, me too. Although I hate to see him grow up forgetting where he came from. And then remember the forest in the most painful ways."

"I take it you two are closely connected to Pit."

Both Dovepool and Graystorm looked behind them. A black-haired apprentice with silver-gray wings growing out of his back stood there.

"Very insightful of you, youngster," Graystorm remarked. "What's your name?"

"Keto."

"I see..."

The gray tom's eyes fell on the necklace Keto was wearing.

"I've seen another warrior in Watertribe with that necklace. His name was Ripplefur. He fled from the forest, many years ago, along with son, Blackkit, when the old camp was destroyed."

Keto just gazed at it, and shrugged.

"I was given the necklace when I was little. By who, I don't remember." He then noticed that Graystorm had on a short necklace that was identical to one he'd seen Pit with once. "Are you Pit's father? I've seen Pit with that same necklace before."

Graystorm glanced down at his necklace, and nodded once.

"I'm surprised you would make that specific of an assumption. Yes I am, although Pit has never met me before, because I died in battle before he was born. Dovepool was his mother."

Dovepool nodded at the apprentice.

"I was very protective of Pit when I was raising him. A bit over-protective, actually. To the point I chose to run away from the forest with him, to find a safer place to raise him. All I did was carve out my own fate, and I froze to death while I was sleeping. I didn't expect to die so soon, and by the time I realized I'd met my fate, there wasn't anything I could do about it. But even here, I've never stopped caring about him, and it hurts me so much that the sole remaining way he remembers me now is through how he lost me, re-experiencing the grief and sorrow he felt years ago."

"Oh."

Keto went up and lightly nuzzled her arm. Dovepool put her arm on his shoulder, and dipped her head.

"Perhaps the one thing I don't regret doing, the one decision I feel happy about, was giving Pit his father's necklace when he was a year old. He would've completely forgotten the forest, had I not have given that to him."

Dovepool took her arm off of Keto, and turned to her mate. Much to Keto's surprise, she buried her face in his chest, and started crying. Graystorm put his arms around her, and gently nuzzled her.

"I suppose you could say the same thing about me."

That caught both Dovepool and Graystorm by surprise.

"What makes you say that?"

"I was a very close friend to Pit. I sort of viewed him more as a younger brother than a friend. We did everything together."

There was a slight flicker of emotion in the tom's dark brown eyes.

"It was really hard for me to see Pit right there in front of me when that Shemum claimed my life, seeing the look of horror and sorrow on his face upon realizing that I was dying. But at least I got the chance to say goodbye to him before I truly joined the ranks of Startribe."

Keto looked down for a second, and shuddered. Dovepool could see he was trying to push aside his feelings, and not let them get the better of him. After a few moments, he raised his head, all signs of emotion gone.

"You've got a lot of resilience in you, young one," Graystorm noted. "Something a lot of people out there need, but don't have."

"Like Pit...perhaps, I should take part in his leadership ceremony."

"Perhaps...when the time comes..."

* * *

Pit reached down into the front of his chiton, and pulled out his father's necklace, feeling its smooth surface. He tightly gripped it to his chest as his memories started to come back to him, before hiding it again.

"Pit," Chiron's solemn voice came from outside. "I want to show you something."

Although a bit reluctantly, he stood up and left the room. Chiron was sitting on the stairs leading to the entrance of the temple. Pit went up and sat down next to him.

"I wanted to show you this." The centurion held up a small necklace.

It was made using brown string and colored beads carved out of wood. The beads were colored blue and teal, and in the middle was a blue-green stone, much like the one on the necklace Pit had, but smaller.

"That's...that's Keto's necklace. I've seen him with it before."

Chiron nodded.

"I retrieved it from his body, which a group of monsters had left lying on the outskirts, to be disposed of."

Chiron handed the necklace to Pit.

"You can have it. I know that Keto was very close to you, and he meant a lot to you."

Pit examined the necklace, and held it close, as he recalled all his memories of the young angel. He shuddered as he started to recall Keto's death, and a part of him wanted to push away the memory, but he decided against it, and mentally braced himself as the battle that took place several months ago started playing in his head. He tried hard not to let his feelings get the better of him, but he couldn't help it when he recalled watching Keto bleed to death.

 _Ke-eet, to._ Pit looked up at the trilling call of a tern, and sure enough, the white bird stood there, at the bottom of the stairs. The bird called again, then made what sounded like an imitation of a serpentine hiss. The bird turned like it was going to fly away, but then looked back, and called.

 _It's time for you to bring an end to what has begun._

Pit glanced over at his mentor, then headed inside. He came back out carrying his bow.

"Let's go."

Chiron nodded, then retrieved his own bow, and the two took off for Palutena's temple.

Surprisingly, not a great deal of monsters attacked them, despite how many there were. On occasion, a group of Syrens, or other monsters that were flying around would go after them, but with the aid of the Three Sacred Treasures, the creatures were easily defeated.

After some time, the massive temple came into view. As they approached the temple, an astral projection of Medusa appeared.

"Well, I'm very impressed that you've made it this far. You must be really desperate to save your goddess."

"You're finished, Medusa! I will defeat you!"

"You've got quite the spirit, little angel. But that's little compared to my power. Just try me."

It barely registered when several lasers flew out of nowhere, aimed for Pit. He flashed the shield up, and deflected them, then flew down to land.

That was when he saw the dark goddess. She was standing in the clearing in front of the temple's entrance, seemingly waiting.

"Here I am, angel. Come and face me!"

Pit narrowed his eyes, then shot several arrows at Medusa. Most of them missed, but Pit immediately launched into trying the charged ones. Medusa chuckled.

"Is that seriously all you got?"

The angel growled at that.

"Three Sacred Treasures, do your thing!"

Pit aimed his bow skyward as it flashed white, and arrows of light rained down on the clearing. Medusa wavered at the feeling of all the arrows penetrating her, then she roared, and conjured several red energy balls, shooting them at Pit. They came faster than he expected, and he wildly tried to dodge them. Chiron quickly stepped in, and shot down some of them, much to Medusa's surprise.

"How in the world did you break free of my spell? You're a centurion. You're not supposed to be able to break free."

"I'm not just a centurion. I have my own individual soul, my own personal will. That is what allowed me to escape your curse."

"Hm. Let's just test how strong that will of yours is..."

Before Chiron could do anything, Medusa shot a bright red laser at him, striking him in the chest. He fell to the ground, seemingly knocked out.

"Chiron!"

Pit flew up and shot several arrows at the dark goddess, to draw her attention away from Chiron. She turned around, and abruptly shot a spiky-looking ball of energy at the angel. He deflected it with his shield, and Medusa howled as the thing hit her back.

For a while, the two relentlessly shot projectiles at one another. The little angel was fast, and hard to hit as a result, much to Medusa's irritation.

"Let's just see how well you can dodge this!"

She conjured numerous arrow-tipped lasers and shot them a fraction of a second in between. They came so quickly Pit didn't have time to shield them, and several of them hit. One just barely grazed his cheek.

Without thinking, Pit charged at the goddess, and started attacking her directly. Surprisingly, it seemed to do more to her than shooting had, and he managed to slice a good-sized gash in her back.

"You little pest! I've had enough of you!"

Medusa abruptly lashed out with her claws, and successfully struck his wing. Pit yelped as pure pain shot up his wing, and he started to fall, helplessly beating his one good wing. But a second later, he clenched his jaw as he spread out his injured wing, and started beating it, desperately trying to stay airborne, despite the fact his wing was screaming with excruciating pain.

After a moment, he was able to stabilize himself, and he relaxed slightly. His eyes were glazed over with pain. He resumed relentlessly attacking her, but it wasn't long before one of the snakes of Medusa's hair lashed out at him. Too late, he tried to avoid it, and shrieked as sharp fangs dug into the unprotected part of his leg. Medusa chuckled as the snake held the caught angel up to her face.

"Well done, my pet," she purred, stroking the snake's head. "Now finish him."

The snake's eyes glittered with pride, and it tossed the angel into the air. Chiron, who'd finally come to, watched in horror as the serpent caught the angel in its mouth as he fell, and swallowed him whole.


	29. Golden Laurel

Pit coughed and gasped for air as the sides of the snake's throat pushed him down towards its stomach. He felt like he was suffocating. It was unbelievably hot and muggy in there, and it stunk with the smell of acid and carrion coming from the snake's stomach and mouth.

Feeling a sudden spark in his will to fight back, he charged up an arrow, and shot it down the snake's esophagus. To his surprise, his bow flashed yellow, and two other arrows edged in pink also flew out, at an angle. The upper half of the snake exploded, and Pit fell to the ground, drenched in snake blood.

"Pit, you okay?" Chiron ran up to him.

"Yeah..." He slowly got to his feet, his sides heaving. "That was...a little scary, though."

Apparently, the snake had some physical connection to Medusa because she was howling with pain. She glanced that severed snake body, then glared at the angel.

"That was very mean of you, Pit. Luckily, I have a gift for you. Hope you like it."

As if on cue, a bright green snake slithered out of her hair. It was brighter than the others, and had bright pink eyes.

"Deal with this rat of an angel, my lovely Tanatos."

The snake smirked devilishly, then flew out of the goddess' dreadlocks, and down to where Pit was.

"So you're the little angel Medusa once had in her custody? Good luck on trying to save your precious Palutena."

Without warning, Tanatos lashed out at the angel. Trying to ignore the pain, he spread his wings and took off, just narrowly avoiding getting bitten. He then prepared a charged arrow, and shot it skyward, and several other arrows followed, raining down on the battlefield. Tanatos shrieked in pain, then lashed out with his long tail, grabbing Pit by his neck. Pit let out a weak cry of distress as he was being strangled, tightly gripping the serpent's tail in desperation. Chiron didn't hesitate to shoot an arrow at the snake's face. It missed, but then the centurion retrieved Pit's bow, and slashed the creature's belly, making him drop Pit. The angel was flung onto the ground, coughing and panting.

Chiron helped Pit get up, then handed him his bow. The serpent lashed out again just as Pit released a charged arrow from his bow. The arrow went down its throat. Tanatos screamed in agony, then used his tail to swat the bow out of Pit's hands, and lash out again. But instead of running, the angel charged.

"Pit, what are you doing?!"

Chiron ran up to stop the angel, but was surprised to see what had resulted. Pit was standing there, his shield up, and his other arm guarding his face. The snake's jaws had come down on his shield, and the armored part of his arm.

"I got this, Chiron," Pit called out, although he was gradually being pushed back. "Just...leave this to me."

Pit returned his sharp glare to Tanatos, his teeth bared in a snarl. The serpent narrowed his eyes, and tried to bite down harder, but couldn't with the shield between his jaws.

For a while, the two stood in a stalemate, neither willing to back down. But after some time, Tanatos decided to try and force the angel into letting up by using his tail like a whip, and struck Pit's injured wing. Pit cried out at the sharp pain, but refused to give up.

Pit grunted as he tried to reposition his other arm, but couldn't. He could feel his strength draining out of him as he tried to hold off the massive serpent. And it didn't help with the creature whipping him with its tail, trying to force him to let up. As the snake struck the unprotected part of his back, he glanced around briefly, in search of some way to deal his own attack, when his gaze fell upon his bow. It was lying on the ground, not far from him. Flicking his gaze back and forth between Tanatos, and his bow, he suddenly thought of an idea.

He sharply leaned forward, and bit the serpent's snout, burrowing in his canines. The snake arched back, and screeched, a moment which the angel took advantage of and retrieved his bow. He shot a charged arrow at the snake, then immediately launched into a string of direct attacks.

Tanatos screamed in agony as Pit relentlessly poured on the attacks. At the next chance he had, he struck the angel in the face. Pit yelped as the snake's tail hit his eye, causing his eyelid to start bleeding.

Trying to ignore the pain of his eye, he prepared another charged arrow. Just as the snake lashed out, he shot the charged arrow down its throat. Like what had happened once before, two pink arrows followed, going in opposite angles, and Tanatos screeched in agony as he went up in a cloud of white energy.

"Nicely done, Pit."

Pit turned to his mentor and smiled, then turned his attention to Medusa. She snarled upon seeing that the angel had defeated her commander.

"I should've killed you when I had the chance. That's my greatest mistake. You should've died with the others."

She conjured a huge ball of energy and levitated it in her hand.

"And I'm going to make sure that happens."

Before Pit could do anything, Medusa fired the energy ball at him. But just when he braced himself to endure it, a streak of brown and white flew by. Pit looked over to see Chiron lying on the ground. He'd thrown himself in front of the angel, and taken the hit himself. Chiron feebly raised his head.

"It's...up to you...to bring down Medusa...I can...no longer...assist you..."

The centurion closed his eyes, and went limp, unconscious.

Medusa laughed when she saw what the centurion had done, and she shot several more small balls of flaming energy at him. Pit flashed the mirror shield in front of him, deflecting two balls back at the goddess. They hit two snakes in the face, killing them.

Pit took flight to avoid being hit by a spiky ball of energy, then started directly attacking the goddess. Black blood dripped down her sides and her arms. Medusa screeched in pain, then fired several lasers at the angel. One hit the wounded spot on his face, and he bit back a cry of shock.

Rather awkwardly, he flew backwards, to gain some distance, and shot a charged arrow skyward, sending light arrows raining down on the arena. Medusa fired a barrage of projectiles, which the angel dodged, and the two once again engaged in shooting projectiles relentlessly at each other. However, Medusa was taking notably more damage than Pit, due to her large size and having limited space to move around making her easy to hit, compared to the little angel who could easily move all around the arena.

"This is getting ever so tiresome."

Without warning, she lashed out at him, and managed to hook a claw on his back, between his wings. Pit cried out in pain, and fought to try and get free, but it only made things worse, as the goddess' claw burrowed further into his back with each movement. As the pain started to become unbearable, he quit struggling, and hung his head in defeat. Medusa held him up to her face and smirked.

"Say goodbye, little angel."

With her other hand, she stabbed the angel in the stomach, and flung him down to the ground. His bow flew out of his hands, and landed next to Chiron, who'd come back to his senses. Unsteadily getting onto his knees, he saw Medusa towering over Pit, who was lying on the ground, seemingly out for the count.

"Pit!"

Medusa turned around upon hearing the centurion call out, and she averted her attention to him. He felt a slight twinge of fear, as he was in no condition to fight alone, but at the very least, he could distract Medusa long enough for Pit to recover.

On a whim, he grabbed Pit's bow, and shot an arrow in Medusa's face, then threw it over to where Pit was. The centurion then retrieved his own bow, and continued to shoot at her.

Pit winced as he feebly reached over and grabbed his bow. Everything hurt, and moving at all sent excruciating pain surging through his entire body. Using his bow for support, he tried to pick himself up, whimpering at the pain that seized him with each movement. As he stood up, he found that it even hurt to breathe, as the impact with the ground had broken part of his rib cage. Wiping the blood away from his eyes, he saw Chiron on his knees, shooting arrows at the goddess.

Suddenly, there was a loud _r-r-r-rukh, r-r-rukh!_ from above, and Medusa looked up as a large white bird came down like an arrow, and pierced her eyelid with its sharp beak. A gannet. Two more followed, and all three birds swarmed around the goddess, like they were trying to distract her. A tern and two owls joined them.

Pit was shocked to see these birds flying around the goddess and attacking her, and it gave him a sudden energy spark. He spread his wings and took flight, and joined the birds in swarming around Medusa, like a swarm of shootflies. Medusa furiously clawed at them, but was unable to hit them. The birds eventually flew off, seeing that Pit was managing to hold her off.

"I am not going down like the others did."

He prepared a charged arrow in his bow. But he exerted every bit of his concentration and power into the arrow. The thing glowed pure white, brighter than any arrow he'd ever charged before.

"I will defeat you, Medusa! Time for you to face the light!"

And he released the arrow. The bow flashed white, and several blue-green arrows appeared and fired out at an angle outwards but then changed direction and flew to the target of the main arrow. He shot a barrage of yellow ones behind him, followed by several pink ones that homed in on the goddess. He ended the move by shooting several blue arrows into the air that came down as beams of pure light. The last one struck Medusa in the chest.

Medusa stumbled back, clutching her chest. She growled at the angel, her one eye gleaming with a hunger for revenge.

"You may have won this time...but this isn't over yet...I will be back, and I will put your little soul in its rightful place..."

Moments later, the dark goddess disintegrated into a black cloud of energy that was swept away by a gentle breeze that blew by.

Pit stood there for a moment in shock, then looked over to the entrance to Palutena's temple. There was a bright flash from inside, and the angel shielded his face from the bright light. As the light died down, he looked up to see Palutena emerge from the entrance of the temple.

"Well done, Pit. You've completed your quest."

Palutena lightly rested her hand on his head. His entire figure glowed momentarily, as the Three Sacred Treasures were released from their user. Pit looked down at himself with a start, then saw the light of the treasures levitating in her hand. The light was sealed into a casket and sent up in a shaft of light.

"They will be kept safe, hidden out of reach. And in return for all you have done, I give you this."

She gestured for Pit to tilt his head forward, and she gently placed something on his head, nestling it down into his hair.

"This golden laurel wreath is a sign of my gratitude, and your position as an angel in Skyworld."

Pit reached around and traced his fingers along the thin leaves of the wreath, then looked up at the goddess, and smiled. Looking out at the vast sky, as it turned red with the setting sun, he saw a group of birds fly by, each of a different species.

A white tern with a black crest and silver wings. A red and brown hawk with clear blue eyes. A dappled brown sparrow with cream-colored wings. Two owls, one pale brown with bright green eyes, and the other golden with nicks and holes in its wing and tail feathers. Three gannets, white with light yellow heads and black wing tips. And two white storks with brown eyes and bright orange beaks.

Each of the birds called as they passed by, soaring off into the distance in the direction of the sun, like angels heading towards the light of the heavens.


	30. Return to the Forest

_The howling of blizzard wind filled his ears. He nestled down closer to his mother, shivering. But there was no warmth coming from her anymore. Confused, he sat up, and leaned in close to his mother's face._

 _"Mama...?"_

 _The silver-haired queen didn't move or respond._

 _Worried, he got to his knees and nudged her head, trying to get her to answer him._

 _"Mama...wake up. Mama..."_

 _Still not getting a response from her, he went over and tugged on her arm, but she was completely limp. That was when he realized it; his mother was dead. She'd frozen to death in her sleep._

 _Pure shock gripped his mind at this realization, and he stopped tugging on her arm. He wildly glanced around, as though he were looking for someone, or something, not wanting to face the fact of what had happened. But eventually, the grief he'd been trying to fight off overtook him, and he hung his head as tears started welling up in his eyes._

 _He glanced back at his mother's motionless form. In grief, he went and tucked himself under her limp arm, curled up against her chest, and began to cry. He lay there for a long time, mournfully sobbing, not wanting to ever leave her side. Streams of tears ran down his cheeks. In an effort to comfort himself, he nuzzled his head up under her chin, like he used to when he was younger, but that only made him cry even more._

 _After some time, he subconsciously got up and started walking off, but stopped to look back at his mother again. But he quickly closed his eyes as another sob escaped from his throat, and he took off running as fast as he could into the vast prairie, alone, lost, and heartbroken._

* * *

"Pit! Pit, wake up!"

Pit yelped as he jolted awake. It took him a moment to realize he was back in his room in Skyworld. His cheeks were wet with tears, and it felt like there was a lump in his throat. Looking up, he saw Palutena sitting on the edge of his bed, her hand on his shoulder. She comfortingly rubbed his back.

"Calm down, Pit. It was just a dream."

Pit just gazed at her for a moment. Subconsciously, he sat up, and leaned up against her chest, where he continued to cry. Palutena put her arms around him, and gently hugged him. She stroked his head, which seemed to help calm him down, as he relaxed a bit. After a while, he gazed up at her, his eyes clouded with grief. She just gazed back at him, and wiped away a tear that was trickling down his face.

"Pit, what has gotten into you? This is the third time this week that I've found you crying in your sleep. What is it that's bothering you?"

The angel just looked down for a moment before he shrugged.

"I...I don't know...I feel like I used to know, but...I don't anymore..."

Palutena just nodded.

"I understand. I wish I knew what's going on that's troubling you, but I understand if you don't know, or can't remember. Now try to go back to sleep, and dream of pleasant things, okay?"

Pit just nodded, and the goddess left the room, shutting the door behind her.

For a while, he sat on the edge of his bed, deep in thought, before getting up and walking over to his balcony. Countless stars littered the sky.

 _Why can't I remember what I keep having flashbacks about? I used to be able to remember. Why can't I now?_

He reached down into the front of his chiton, and pulled out the necklace he'd been given years ago, when he was a year old. Gazing at it now, he was unable to connect it to his father of whom it once belonged to, or the tribe he'd once been a member of. All of his memories that had anything to do with the forest and the tribes were either fleeting, or gone completely. Even his forest warrior instincts were starting to be trained out of him. He clutched the aqua green stone to his chest, and returned his gaze to the stars.

As he scanned the night sky, he suddenly recalled the forest that he saw when he flew back to Skyworld years ago, and something tugged at the back of his mind.

 _Go to that forest...return to those whose blood runs in your veins...and remember where your roots truly lie..._

* * *

"Lady Palutena?"

The young goddess turned around upon hearing Pit behind her.

"Yes, Pit?"

"I...I need to show you something."

Palutena followed the angel to a magical fountain she used for monitoring Pit when he was out. Pit closed his eyes, and brushed the surface of the water. As the ripples faded, a distant view of a forest appeared in the fountain.

"I saw this forest when I flew back to Skyworld several years ago. It seems oddly familiar to me, and I want to go check it out."

Palutena gazed at it for a moment, then turned to Pit.

"I'm sensing that that forest is a realm of its own. Once you enter it, I will not be able to telepathically communicate with you."

"I don't need you to communicate with me. I just need your help getting down there."

"I understand...if you really want to do this, then I will give you the assistance you need."

Pit nodded gratefully, then headed to the edge of the island. He spread his wings, and when he saw them take on a blue glow, he took off.

When he reached the outskirts of Skyworld, he quickly descended below the clouds. He slowed down to a steady glide, and looked around. After several minutes, he saw it, and flew down to the ground. Upon landing, the glow of his wings faded.

Almost instantly the scent of undergrowth and wet leaves hit his nostrils. The cheerful chirping and whistling of songbirds, and the chattering of squirrels as they scampered along the forest floor filled his ears. It was just simply fascinating to him, all the natural sounds and scents, and he was quickly swept up in taking it all in.

Suddenly, as he passed a pair of crooked oak trees, the pungent smell of urine hit the roof of his mouth. Sure enough, a nearby maple tree had a scent marker on its trunk. Some animal had marked its turf there. A clump of bracken near the oak trees had urine markers on them too, both old and new ones. There was the smell of something else too. It smelled like a mix of different people's scents mingled into one. But there was something else distinct about the scent that made it familiar to him but he couldn't think of what it was.

The rustling of undergrowth alarmed him, and he quickly scrambled up into the oak trees. Moments later, three people emerged from the brush. One appeared to be leading the others.  
That one in the lead was a girl about the same age as him. Her hair was jet black, and so long it almost completely covered her back. At first glance her skin looked tan, but the slight variation in tone on her chest indicated her skin had once been white, and had gotten tan from her living in the wild. Her eyes were rounded and framed by thick lashes, like his, and were a stunning light blue color, like that of the sky.

Behind her was a younger male, and an older female. The female looked to be somewhere in her thirties, and she had short cream-colored hair with splotches of white. Her sharp eyes were bright green. The male looked to be about ten years old, and had silver-gray hair with stripes of gray-blue.

After several minutes of observing, the black-haired girl started talking.

"Jaypaw," she said, turning to the male. "What other scents can you pick up?"

Pit felt a twinge of anxiety at that. What if they picked up his scent?

But that fear was quickly washed away with Jaypaw's reply.

"Fox...two days old, I'd guess. Squirrel, and...and a trace of badger."

"Very good, Jaypaw. The scent has mostly been washed away by the rain, but you picked it up pretty quickly."

She turned to the female.

"You have trained your apprentice well, Daisyleaf. Continue the patrol."

Moments later, Jaypaw froze when he sniffed around a clump of briars.

"I smell cougar over here, Millie. It's really fresh."

Pit was a bit surprised to hear what the girl's name was. "Millie" seemed a bit out of place given she lived in the wild, and that she was apparently in a group where they had their own naming system. But the name fit her appearance perfectly.

"Don't worry too much about it yet," Daisyleaf replied. "Until there is evidence the cougar poses a threat, it is nothing to get too excited about."

"We should still tell the tribe, so they know to keep their guard up," Millie suggested. "Cougars are ambush predators like us. They utilize the element of surprise when hunting."

Daisyleaf nodded in agreement.

"True. And I think you're right, we should tell the tribe. After what happened to Liontail a half-moon ago, we need to be a bit more cautious of predators on our territory."

As the three of them continued to monitor the borders, Pit found himself unable to take his eyes off of Millie. There was just something about her that really captured him. He felt kind of envious too, seeing the companions she had, in comparison to him, who had spent the last several years as the last one of his kind, after Medusa killed off all the others.

Suddenly, as he thought about these things, he realized that Millie had stopped, and was looking over her shoulder, up into the trees, and directly at him. But she didn't seem to think much of him, as she stood there for a moment, then turned and disappeared into the forest shortly behind Jaypaw and Daisyleaf.

Pit climbed down out of the tree, and headed away from the border, in search of shelter. He eventually settled in an old fox den hollowed out under a tree stump. There was no need to go gather bedding, as there was already plenty of leftover material he could use. At the end of the den opposite of the entrance, he arranged the old bedding into a little nest, and curled up in it, eventually drifting off, lost in thought.


	31. Millie

The very next day, at dawn, he climbed up into the crooked oak trees again. That same group of three were there again, patrolling the border.

"There it is again. Cougar scent. Fresh, but faint."

"Don't worry about it too much, at the moment," Millie replied. "This cougar is living beyond our borders. I can tell, now that I smell it."

Suddenly, Millie's ears twitched at the rustling of undergrowth.

"Listen! There's prey. Use your nose, Jaypaw. What is it?"

The apprentice sniffed the air.

"It's squirrel. Young one."

"Very good, Jaypaw."

The apprentice got down low to the ground, and slowly crept towards a honeysuckle bush, where a small squirrel stood, nibbling on a seed. He pounced, but the squirrel sensed him coming. It stuffed the seed in its mouth, and scampered away. He got up and chased after it. Millie tried to catch it too, but the squirrel was too fast, and she tumbled into the bracken beyond.

"Wow, that's a fast one."

Jaypaw continued to chase after the squirrel but soon had to give up the chase when it climbed up the crooked oak trees.

"Darn it! It went up in the tree!"

Pit watched the squirrel climb up into the tree, and stop on a huge limb to nibble on its seed. He instinctively dropped down into a crouch, and slowly crept towards the squirrel, using his wings for balance. When he was less than a foot away, he rushed forward, and grabbed up the squirrel by its neck. The rodent squealed in distress, desperately clawing at the angel's hand, before going limp.

He looked down to see all three gazing up into the tree, with surprised looks on their faces. Realizing he could not hide his presence anymore, he jumped down out of the tree with the dead squirrel in his hand.

The three of them didn't seem to know what to make of him. Jaypaw and Daisyleaf narrowed their eyes and snarled at him, but Millie just went up to him, with a look on her face that seemed priceless to him.

"Relax, you two," she said, looking back. "He's no threat."

Pit held up the dead squirrel.

"I think this slipped through your paws."

Millie took the squirrel from him, and handed it to Daisyleaf.

"Go on. Take this piece of fresh-kill we've been so generously offered. I'll catch up with you."

"Yes, Millie."

As Daisyleaf and Jaypaw headed into the forest, Millie turned her attention back to Pit.

"You were here yesterday, weren't you? I recognize your scent."

"Yes, I was here."

"In case you didn't know, this is the border of Suntribe territory. You must not cross it, or steal our prey."

"You can keep your squirrels," he replied innocently. "And who needs borders? There's plenty of prey in the forest."

Millie shook her head.

"You don't understand. There are four tribes that live in this forest. You come here to hunt only for sport. But we hunt to survive. We need every piece of prey our territories can provide."

"Oh. Is prey really that hard to come by?"

"Yes."

"I see. Well, good luck with your hunting."

"Listen, if you come across any of my warriors, be careful. Ask for Millie if they give you any trouble."

"Millie? Okay."

"And what's your name?"

"Pit."

* * *

 _Millie._ Even as he went out to hunt, he couldn't get her out of his mind.

That look of courage that shone in her eyes when she held her chin up, her gentle, yet commanding and firm voice...even her comforting scent stuck in his head.

Pit sniffed the ground cautiously, trying to pick up the scent of rabbit. He'd been chasing the thing for a long time. But just when he picked up the scent, he sensed that someone was behind him, and he turned around.

It was Millie, standing there with the rabbit in her hand. The creature was dead.

"I think this slipped through your paws."

Pit felt his face get hot. He tried really hard not to let it show, but that was probably the closest he'd come to dying of embarrassment.

Millie dropped the rabbit on the ground.

"Your technique is all over the place."

Pit nervously scratched the back of his head.

"Well...I uh, I guess I should pay more attention when I'm hunting, huh?"

"More like you could use some proper training. Maybe I can teach you."

"Maybe..."

Millie got down on her knees in front of the rabbit.

"Where do you live?"

Pit thought for a long moment. He didn't know what to say. A part of him felt it would be more practical to tell her about Skyworld, but he got the feeling she wouldn't understand, and she might also take it negatively.

"I have a den, by this old tree stump. I don't think I'll be staying here for very long."

"I see..."

She sat up.

"May I see you again?"

From there, it all began. Millie met with him the next night, and the next, and the next. Night after night, just the two of them. Pit found himself growing to like her, and was rather comforted by her company. She seemed to really care about him, in how she was so kind and generous to him.

It wasn't long before Millie started telling him about the tribes. About the warrior code, and how it shaped their way of life. And one night, when the sky was clear, she told him about Startribe.

One night, a cougar came out of nowhere as they were heading back to the crooked oak trees. Pit was ready to run, but Millie stepped in, her teeth bared. He watched in fascination as she fought off the massive cat. She even gave it a warning scratch for good measure.

For a time, the two maintained a good relationship with each other, but after about a moon, things take a wrong turn.

* * *

Pit stood under the crooked oak trees, waiting for Millie. He twitched his ears at the whistling melody of a nightingale that came from a nearby ash tree, and the wailing of a barn owl perched atop an old cedar. But there was no sign of the black-haired girl, or any hint that she was coming. After a while, Pit decided to go hunt and return to his den.

To his surprise, Millie was standing in the clearing by his den.

"Millie! Where were you? I was worried sick!"

Millie just looked back at the old stump.

"Nice den you got. I should've come here earlier. Quiet. Peaceful."

"Oh."

"But I would like it if you explained to me this."

She tossed his laurel crown on the ground.

Pit internally winced when it all came crashing down on him. She knew he'd been lying.

"Well...well, what gave you the right to go snooping around in my den anyway? Huh?"

"That doesn't matter. Just tell me the truth."

Pit hesitated for a long while. He hadn't prepared for this happen.

"I...I live in a place up in the sky, called Skyworld. I'm an angel."

He turned and spread his wings out, much to Millie's surprise.

"I'm a servant to the goddess of light, Lady Palutena, and the captain of her army."

"I see. But Pit...why did you lie to me?"

"When you initially asked, I got the feeling you wouldn't understand if I told you about Skyworld. And I was...afraid you wouldn't like me...if I told you the truth."

"Pit, I would've liked you so much more, had you told me the truth. And as far as comprehension goes, I wouldn't have thought twice about it. There was no need to tell a lie."

"How was I supposed to know that?! I can't read your mind!"

Millie just spat at him, much to his shock. She then kicked dust and dirt over his laurel crown.

"Go back to your home in 'Skyworld', angel!"

"Like I can, or want to! You get out!"

"What, your wings not work or something?! Some use you must be then. I doubt you could even feed yourself, since your so used to having your 'goddess' put food in front of you!"

 _Hey!_ Well if I'm so offensive, why are you still standing here, talking to me?!"

"You're right. I can't stay here. I shouldn't have trusted you at all, right from the start."

And with that, Millie turned and headed off into the forest.

* * *

Pit glanced outside at the falling rain, his stomach growling. It had started raining the morning after he'd had his argument with Millie, and hadn't stopped for days. Due to his den being underground, it got to be rather wet in there, but he didn't care. With all this time to think, he couldn't help but wonder if Millie was right.

 _Maybe I am an angel at heart..._

As he lay in his nest, numerous memories from his life in Skyworld began to play in his head. He eventually came to realize it.

 _I can't be ashamed of my life with Lady Palutena. I was well-cared for there. Well loved. And now...now I'm taking care of myself. Millie doesn't know what she's talking about...stupid furrball._

It finally stops raining, and Pit immediately headed out to go hunt. But he couldn't stop thinking about Millie. As he brought down a pigeon, he still couldn't believe that Millie would think, even for a heartbeat, he couldn't catch his own food.

 _Well, I'll show her. I'll drop this pigeon right at her stupid feet._

Pit went to the oak trees, carrying the pigeon in his mouth. The timing is perfect, and he hears a patrol coming. But to his shock, Millie was not with them. Scared, he dropped the pigeon, and ran off.

* * *

The next day, when he set out to hunt, he decided to head in the opposite direction of the tribe's territory.

 _If she's going hate me so much for what I am, fine. I can get by on my own, no problem  
_

He also realized then how ridiculous he was, trying to impress Millie with that pigeon. How humiliating.

As he looked around for something to hunt, he picked up the cougar scent the patrol had noticed. It wasn't anything to get excited about. It was always around.

For some reason, there wasn't a lot of prey out. But after what felt like moons, he found a rabbit. It doesn't even see him coming, and he easily kills it. But just when he was about to start eating...

Two huge cougars came out of the brush, their yellow eyes glaring at him.

Pit felt all his nerves tense up. He arched up his back, his wings out, and snarled at the two felines.

"This is my kill! Mine! You go find your own! Go on now! Go!"

But the lions just kept coming, sensing his fear, and he finally lost it, and took off.

They soon cornered him against a tree. Pit crouched down and pressed himself against the tree, not knowing what to do now. His eyes were fixed on the cougars, who slowly came closer and closer.

 _Raowr!_

A loud cat-like yowl startled him, and he was shocked when Millie came charging out of the blue, ramming herself into the lion nearest to Pit. She growled and spat at them, her eyes narrowed.

"Get out of here!" she ordered, looking back at him. "Now!"

Pit quickly scrambled up into the tree, and crouched down in a notch between two limbs.

The lions were on her instantly. Taking care of one wasn't too big of a task, but dealing with two at once was something else. Millie twisted around and sunk her teeth into the snout of the younger one as it went to bite her. At the same time the other clawed at her face, and she shielded her face with her arms, before swiping at the huge feline.

Pit watched Millie fight, and felt a sudden spark of needing to help her. It was two against one, and the older lion was so big Millie could barely avoid its attacks. He had to help her fight, but the instinct to fight with tooth and claw had been mostly trained out of him, and it had been a long time since he'd fought anything, much less something like this. But after some time, he felt something trigger in him, and he jumped down out of the tree, much to Millie's surprise.

"Pit, what are you doing?!"

"Shut up and fight!"

Pit leaped onto the older one, and clawed its face. The lion tried to throw him off, but only succeeded in having its neck bitten. Millie dealt with the younger one, tearing open its belly and snout.  
He didn't know what it was, whether it was seeing Millie in danger, or just knowing she'd saved his life, but something just took over, as he clawed and snapped at the massive lion. The two felines chose to retreat when Millie scratched the younger one's face.

Millie stood there for a moment, her sides heaving. The upper half of her back had been scratched up, and she was bleeding heavily from one shoulder. She had several bites in the side of her face, and her limbs were badly cut and scratched.

"Millie, you're bleeding badly."

"...I just...need to rest..."

Pit gently put his arm around her, and she leaned on him a bit. He took her into his den, and had her lay down. She closed her eyes as Pit started cleaning her wounds.

"Thanks, for saving my life. Why'd you come back?"

"To thank you for the pigeon. It had your scent all over it. Why'd you leave it at the border?"

Pit lay down next to her.

"I wanted to show you that I can hunt. I can catch my own food."

Millie was silent for a moment.

"You know Pit, I didn't mean that. And to be honest, I'm sorry for taking it out on you like I did. I realize now that you were telling the truth, and that anyone in your position would've done the same thing. I get it. I would've liked it had you told me about Skyworld in the first place, but I understand your reason for not doing so."

Pit just nodded at her, then went and tended to a scratch on her shoulder.

"We made a good team."

"...Yes, we did."

Millie slowly sat up.

"I'd better be heading back to my tribe."

"What? Covered in blood and limping? You'll scare the fur off your tribe-mates. Stay here. You'll be better in the morning."

For a second Millie looked like she was about to object, but when she tried to get to her feet, and nearly collapsed from the pain of her shoulder, she laid down, and relaxed, closing her eyes as she dozed off.  
Pit was rather glad Millie came back. Not just because she saved him from the cougars...but also because he wanted to explain to her that he wasn't defenseless, even though he was an angel. That he just was himself.

Early the next morning, Millie awoke, and got to her feet. Her wounds had stopped bleeding, and they didn't hurt as much as they did before.

"I have to get back to my tribe now."

"Thanks again for saving me."

Millie stretched her limbs, and quickly groomed her face.

"You know, Pit. You've seemed rather intrigued by life in the tribes. What would you say to seeing for yourself what it's like to live among our ranks?"

"I'd...I'd really like that."


	32. Suntribe

The clear sky was dyed red-violet as the sun descended down towards the horizon. A nightingale began to whistle a flute's melody from up in a nearby pine tree as the bird's waking hours approached. Pit twitched his ears at the bird's soothing tune as he headed to the crooked oak trees to wait for Millie. To his surprise, she was already there.

"I figured you would come here earlier, after you accepted my offer the other day. Come with me."

Pit felt a slight twinge of anxiety when they crossed the border into Suntribe's territory.

"Are...are you sure your tribe-mates won't mind?"

"They already know of your presence near the territory. They will understand."

As they headed deeper into the territory, Millie began to point out landmarks.

The first thing she showed him was a huge rock pile on the shore of a river.

"That rock pile is called Sunboulders. It gets its name from the fact the sun is always on it during the day. The river marks the border between us and Watertribe. Sunboulders once belonged to Watertribe, but then the river changed direction, and we claimed it as part of our territory. Since then, more fights have happened there than anywhere else in the forest."

"Wow. And it's all because the river changed direction?"

"Yep, pretty much."

She then showed him a grassy clearing, not far from the edge of the forest.

"This is where a lot of apprentice training takes place. It's an ideal place for teaching them basic moves and techniques. Lots of space to move around."

"Oh."

"And there's one other thing I need to show you."

She led him to a sandy ravine.

"This is Snakerocks. It gets its name because it's known for attracting adders, which are extremely venomous snakes. This place actually used to be the tribe's camp. That was back before the tribe realized it attracted more predators than prey. We try to avoid it now, because of that."

Pit was only half-listening. He recognized the layout of the ravine; the huge craggy rock, the mossy stump, the hollow rock pile, and the fallen tree. As he gazed at it, scattered images, former memories long-forgotten, started to form in the back of his mind. Play-fighting with two older kits near the rock pile, listening to an elderly warrior tell stories under the mossy tree stump, seeing the huge rock when he first went outside, and trying to climb the fallen cedar tree in pursuit of another kit. The images disappeared when he felt Millie put her hand on his shoulder.

"Pit, are you okay?"

"Huh? Yeah. I'm...I'm fine. It was nothing."

Millie didn't entirely believe him, but she didn't further question him about it.

"This is the entrance path to the camp," Millie said, as she ducked under a mossy tree limb.

The entrance to the camp was very well-hidden. Pit didn't think he would've ever found it on his own. A pair of birch trees shadowed the entrance, and ferns grew thick on both sides of the path.  
The camp itself was a huge rocky hollow, surrounded by forest. Undergrowth grew all along the walls of the camp, and the ground was smooth and dense, like hardened clay. A thin layer of dust covered the ground from generations of being trodden on.

Suddenly, Millie stopped when a red-haired tom emerged from a den beneath a huge boulder that overlooked the camp, and came up to her. His skin was a ruddy tan color, and there were dark spots on the side of his face and on the back of his legs. He looked to be around fifty years old, but he looked unusually short for someone that age. However, it appeared he made up for his shortness in physique, for Pit could see the muscle rippling under his skin on his shoulders and his chest.

When the tom had closed the distance, Millie nodded once at him.

"Greetings, Cedarstar."

He nodded back.

"You too, Millie."

The tom averted his gaze to Pit. His eyes were a stunning green color.

"Who is this you have brought with you?"

"This is Pit. He's the loner that's been living near our borders. I told him about life here, and he was intrigued enough to want to come see it for himself."

"I see." He turned to Pit. "I think you will find our way of life rather fascinating."

"That was Cedarstar, the tribe's leader," Millie explained as the tom headed back to his den. "He has his own den, there."

She pointed to the den beneath the huge rock. A veil of gray-green lichen hung down in front of the entrance.

"Cedarstar always addresses the tribe from atop that boulder. It's called the Highrock."

"What about you?"

"Me? I sleep in the warrior's den. I'll show you."

Not far from the Highrock was a jagged ledge. A tall boulder stood directly under the very edge of it, appearing to hold the ledge up. A smaller boulder lay next to it, forming a wall with an entrance on both sides. It was a lot bigger inside than it appeared from out in the camp. The ground was filled with innumerable nests made of moss, and lined with fur.

"Wow, this den's huge."

"Well, when you're trying to provide a place to sleep for more than half the tribe's members, you need a lot of space. We each have our nest. Mine's over here."

She went and sat in a nest near the back of the den. Entering the den, Pit was surprised when a wall of cold air hit him.

"It's awfully cold in here."

"It may be cold in here now, but when there's all the warm bodies in here, it's actually quite cozy."

"Especially now that leaf-bare's coming, and the nights are getting colder."

Millie looked up at the sudden voice. A golden-haired tom entered the den. He was relatively tall and muscular, and his hair was coarse and thick, like a lion's mane. His eyes were a stunning blue color, like Pit's, but not near as dark, or as vivid.

"That's Liontail," Millie remarked, turning to Pit. "He's one of the finest warriors in Suntribe."

The tom nodded. "Pleased to meet you. I hear that you're the loner that's been living near our borders."

"Yes, I am."

Liontail nodded once in response.

"I'm not surprised that eventually you would come here. It's hard not to be intrigued by our way of life. I'm going to go see how the apprentices are doing with their duties caring for the elders, and if Whitefeather has anything else for me to do. After all, I did just come back from gathering herbs for her."

He turned and left the den.

"What did he mean by 'how the apprentices were doing'?" Pit asked as they headed outside.

"It is a custom that part of an apprentice's training is to tend to the elders, fetching new bedding for them and clearing away the old, treating them for ticks, and many other things. It is so they learn to respect all members of their tribe, including those that are too old or young to care for themselves."

"Oh. And also, who's Whitefeather?"

"Whitefeather is the tribe's healer. Her den's over here."

Millie led him to a somewhat secluded part of the camp. A hickory tree shadowed the entrance of a partially elevated den. A white-haired female sat on the ground inside, sorting through a pile of herbs. She looked to be around thirty years old, based on her slender, but stocky build. The nearby wall was filled with numerous stacks of herbs.

"That's Whitefeather."

The female looked up at them at the sound of Millie's voice. To Pit's surprise, now that he could see her face, she looked a lot older than he initially thought. Her jawline had begun to take on the hard angle of age, and there were small wrinkles under her eyes. She appeared to be closer to Cedarstar's age, maybe older.

For a moment, she just gazed at them before returning to her herbs. When her gaze averted to Pit, he could've sworn he saw a look in her eyes like she recognized him, and was trying to think why.

"And over here," Millie continued. "is the most precious part of Suntribe. This is the nursery, where life starts for all the members of a tribe."

She gestured to a den made up of a cluster of three boulders. Bracken formed the front wall of the den, and Pit could hear the squealing of kits coming from inside.

"Evening, Mosstail," Millie said to a young female sitting in the entrance of the nursery. "How are the kits doing?"

"They're a pawful, but all in good health."

Pit peeked into the nursery, and saw five kits frolicking around. One of them looked up at him, and tilted its head in curiosity.

Suddenly, just when he was starting to get a bit overwhelmed by it all, Daisyleaf came up to him.

"Hey Pit, we've got plenty of fresh-kill. Would you like to share it with us?"

All of a sudden, his isolated life in Skyworld seemed a lot less appealing.  
He grabbed a vole from the fresh-kill pile, and went to eat it with Millie, by the warrior's den.

"People sure are friendly here."

"Yes, we're a very close-knit community." She took another bite of her sparrow. "Say Pit, you wouldn't mind explaining to me what life is like in your home? In Skyworld?"

Pit hesitated for a second.

"There...isn't really much to tell. When I'm not out on missions or assigned duties of some kind, then I kind of just do my own thing. I mostly just hang around, not doing much of anything interesting. Things used to be a lot more exciting, until several years ago."

"Really? What happened?"

"There used to be other angels that lived in Skyworld. But they were all killed when Skyworld was attacked by the goddess of the Underworld, Medusa. Except for me. Instead of killing me, she captured me and locked me up in the Underworld. But I managed to escape and battle my way out of the Underworld, return to Skyworld, and defeat Medusa. But it was at the cost of becoming the only one left of my kind. And I've been the only angel in Skyworld since."

"Wow. Sounds rather lonely."

"Yeah, it is..." He trailed off as his memories of Keto started playing in his head.

Suddenly, a black-and-white haired tom came up to them.

"I'm organizing a hunting party. Care to join?" He looked over at Pit.

Pit just nodded as a smile grew on his face. He quickly ate the rest of his vole, then followed the tom to the camp entrance, where four others were waiting. Daisyleaf and Jaypaw were among them.

"My name's Swiftwind. I can tell you already know Daisyleaf and Jaypaw. The other two are Thistleheart and Darkpool."

At first, Pit was rather nervous, but then Swiftwind told him something that really helped.

"Don't worry, Pit. Thistleheart, Darkpool, and I all used to be loners. Just like you."

The two continue to talk as they head out.

"Millie used to be a loner too. But it sure doesn't seem like it. You wouldn't believe how well she can hunt and fight. Even Cedarstar can't beat her, and he's one of the best trackers in Suntribe. She may not have a proper warrior name, but we're really proud to have her as a member of our tribe. Not to mention she's a real great friend too."

Pit couldn't help but be amazed by how popular Millie was among other members of her tribe. He'd seen in person how well she could hunt and fight, but to hear it from one of her tribe-mates made it all the more fascinating.

Once the hunting party got down to business, the two stopped chatting to focus.

The chirping of a finch caught his attention, and he saw the bird standing on the ground, looking around for grubs to eat. His wings out slightly for balance, he dropped into a low crouch, ad slowly started stalking the bird.  
But at the last second the finch sensed him coming, and it let out a _cheep_ of alarm, and flew up onto a low tree branch. But Pit went through with it, and pounced, however, he leaped upward more, and flapped his wings to gain more altitude. Too late, the bird took off, and he successfully grabbed it by its rump. He quickly gripped its neck with his other hand, strangling it. The finch frantically kicked its spindly legs, letting out a strained cry of distress before going limp.

"Wow, I've never seen someone successfully kill a bird that way," Swiftwind remarked in astonishment as he came through the brush, carrying a shrew. "Only a select few warriors in Suntribe have been able to successfully hunt in that fashion. Where'd you learn to how to strangle prey like that?"

Pit scratched the back of his head.

"I...I don't really know. I've always hunted killing prey by strangling it."

"Huh. Interesting. I wonder if Millie knows that. She can hunt that way."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah. She once killed a crow by strangling it."

"Wow, I'd like to see that."

"I bet you do."

When the hunting party came back, all carrying fresh-kill, Millie came up to Pit as he put his finch in the fresh-kill pile.

"I heard about how you caught that bird. I'm rather impressed. Anyway, it's getting late, and the nights are getting cooler. Would you like to sleep in the warrior's den?"

That caught him completely by surprise.

"Huh?...Are you serious?"

"Here, come with me."

Millie led him into the warrior's den. Already, there were several warriors curled up in their nests. Some had already dozed off.

"I made a little nest for you while you were gone. I could tell you were rather content, and plus, it was part of the plan to have you stay for some time, to get an idea for life here."

Sure enough, next to her own nest, was a new one, lined with fur and feathers for insulation.

Millie was right, the nights were getting colder. But in that fur-lined nest, with all the warm bodies in the den, he felt as warm as if he'd been sleeping in a sunbeam.

Over the next few days, Pit found himself rather content living with the tribe. Something just sparked in him, and he felt more at home than ever. Millie began to notice this, and couldn't help but wonder...

 _If Pit's so happy living here...and he naturally behaves like a warrior...could it be that he has some unknown connection to the forest?  
_


	33. Uncovering the Truth

"Hey Millie?"

The sound of Pit's voice made her look up. Sure enough, moments later, Pit came into the den with a dead crow.

"Thought we share it. I caught it this morning."

Millie quickly groomed her face, then sat down next to Pit, as they shared the huge bird.

"Millie, I want to ask you something."

"What?" She swallowed the piece of meat she had in her mouth.

"You know how I told you about how I became the last one of my kind? Well, I'd like to know a little more about you."

Millie closed her eyes for a second, in thought.

"I'm sure Swiftwind told you this, that I was once a loner, like you. But it's...it's a rather sad story of how I ended up here."

"Really? How come?"

Millie reached down into the front of her tunic, and pulled out a necklace made with red thread. A piece of bone shaped like a leaf hung down from it.

"I originally came from a willow grove, a few days journey away from here. I was brought to the forest by my father, Pine. It was after my mother, Leaf, died that I was taken here to be raised as one of the tribe."

"Your mother died? What happened?"

"It was in the middle of leaf-bare. My mother became very sick, and my father didn't know how to treat illnesses. She died a week after she initially fell ill, along with my younger sister, Lotus. Pine tried to care for me himself, but looked to get help when I fell ill too. He looked to the forest for help, because of the stories his mother, Sasha, had told him of the forest, and the tribes. And I was only three years old at the time."

Millie shuddered as her memories of what had happened years ago in that grove started to play in her head. She tightly shut her eyes and dipped her head, trying hard not to let her emotions get the better of her. A small sob escaped from her throat and she tightly grasped her necklace to her chest.

Pit was shocked to see Millie like this. She seemed so outgoing and bright all the time he would never have guessed she still felt grief over someone she lost several years ago. Seeing her trying to fight her emotions reminded him very much of how he responded to remembering his own loss, and before he realized what he was doing, he put his arm around her.

At first, Millie was about to push his arm away, but found herself leaning into his touch, nuzzling her head up under his chin. Pit was caught off-guard by this gesture, and he didn't quite know what to do. He suddenly recalled how Palutena reacted when he had his emotional breakdowns, and subconsciously began to do the same, putting both his arms around her, and gently rubbing her back. Millie seemed rather comforted by this, and she relaxed a bit.

After several moments, Millie sat up, and Pit took his arms away at the feeling of her doing so.

"Pit...It feels rather weird saying this...but you're the first person ever to do that for me. Even my adoptive mother, Blossomleaf, didn't comfort me like that."

 _Blossomleaf._ That name sounded familiar to him, but he couldn't think where he heard it.

"Pit, is something wrong?"

"Wha-? No. It was nothing. Something just entered my head, that's all."

Again, Millie didn't entirely believe him, but she didn't question him about it.

 _I should ask him about it. First he acted strange when I showed him the Snakerocks, and now when I mentioned the name Blossomleaf. It's as though he once lived here, and vaguely remembers. But he's a loner, and always was. So how could he possibly have any memories of the forest, if he never lived here?_

Millie was snapped out of her thoughts when Daisyleaf came into the den, carrying a robin.

"Oh. Hey, Millie. I was going to give this to you, but it looks like someone beat me."

Millie glanced down at the remains of the crow that still lay on the ground.

"Oh, that. Yeah, Pit came in here earlier with a crow. He told me he caught it this morning."

"Pit sure knows how to hunt. Which is odd for a loner."

Millie looked up from grooming herself.

"A lot of loners know how to hunt."

"Not like us. Loners typically hunt with bows and traps. We hunt with claws and stealth. And Pit is just incredible at hunting the way we do. That's very unusual for a loner, even more a loner that was born and raised a loner."

"You know, I never did look at it that way. But now I'm starting to think you're right, that is unusual. Huh..."

"Anyway, I guess I'll go share this with Hawktail."

As Daisyleaf left the den, Millie stood up and cleared away the remains of the crow. But she couldn't stop thinking about Pit, and how unusual it was for him to instinctively and successfully use tribal methods of hunting and be a complete loner.

 _The only way that would be possible is if he has some connection to the forest. But he doesn't. No one on the forest knows him, or recognizes him in the least. It doesn't make any sense..._

Suddenly, she found herself recalling stories the elders had told her, and the one that began to stand out the most was the one Darkfang had told her when she was an apprentice. A story about a young mother who ran away from the forest with her two-year-old son, in search of a safer place to raise him, but died from the cold, leaving her son's fate in the hands of Startribe.

 _No one knows what really happened to him...the tribe only_ _believes_ _he's dead...I wonder..._

* * *

The brown-haired apprentice got down into a crouch as he looked for a good opportunity to make his first move. Millie followed his every movement, turning when she needed to. After a moment, the apprentice decided to make his move, and he started going left, but then quickly changed direction, and pounced, aiming for his mentor's shoulders. But she saw it coming, and ducked down, causing the tom to tumble into the undergrowth.

"Not bad, Tigerpaw. You got the move down. It's just your timing that could use some work. Don't give your enemy time to think. Just go for it."

The apprentice got to his feet, and immediately crouched down again. But this time, he was a lot faster in making his move, and he successfully caught her on the side of the head, knocking her sideways. The two flipped over a couple of times before Tigerpaw pinned her down.

"Like that?"

"Let me up, you big lump!" She pushed the apprentice off of her. "Yes, exactly like that. Now it's my turn."

Millie crouched down eyeing the tom, looking for an opening. She could tell the apprentice was expecting her to either rear up, or go for his shoulders, like he had with her. Knowing he wasn't expecting this, she pounced head-on, aiming low. To her surprise, at the last second, Tigerpaw pounced too, and the two collided with each other. However, Tigerpaw had more power in his jump, and he knocked her back. They wrestled with each other, flipping and tumbling over, until Millie ended up on top. The apprentice knew what to do though, and he gathered up his legs and kicked, sending his mentor flying backwards.

Tigerpaw was slightly concerned when he didn't hear his mentor moving around, and when he went to see what had happened, he saw her lying on the ground, rubbing the back of her head.

"Are you okay? I didn't mean to hurt you."

"No, I'm fine. I just hit my head, that's all. But next time, don't use your full strength. It doesn't take that much to get your opponent off of you."

Millie got to her feet.

"We've done enough training for today. I know my half-brother would take you for a longer session than this, but then I'm not him."

Upon returning to the camp, Tigerpaw went to the apprentices' den. Millie went into the warrior's den to hang around, and was surprised to see Pit was there, napping. He must've just come back from hunting all day, because beads of sweat were trickling down his face.

Millie sat down in her nest, and plucked out a stray feather that was sticking out of Pit's wing, to which Pit twitched his wings, and tucked them closer to him, as though he'd felt her touch. He turned over onto his back, and mumbled something that sounded like "Keto". As Pit started fidgeting, she was about to wake him up, when she noticed something. Had she not have looked twice, she would've missed it. On his left ear was a red mark, like there had once been a nick in his ear, but it had healed, and left a faint mark behind, like a tiny scar. That kind of thing happened to some warriors where the cut was deep, but not wide, and the skin would heal over, but there would still be a mark left from where the cut had been.

 _It really is odd...if Pit's a loner...then why does he have all these traits of a forest warrior? It doesn't make any sense..._

That thought suddenly sparked something in her, and she went to Cedarstar's den. Recalling the story Darkfang had told her, she knew Cedarstar would have the information she wanted. Poking her head in, Cedarstar was there, grooming himself.

"Cedarstar?"

The tom looked up at her.

"Oh. Hi, Millie. What is it you need?"

"I need to ask you about something."

"Is this something that could be taken as personal? If so, it's best we didn't talk about it here."

Millie was silent for a long while, trying to think if what she wanted to ask was personal or not. After a moment, Cedarstar took her silence as an answer, and headed outside.

"Follow me. I can tell this is something for just you and me."

Millie followed the tribe leader to the border, near the crooked oak trees. They stopped under a huge maple tree.

"Okay, what is it?"

"Well...I've noticed that Pit can hunt really well, and in the same fashion as us. It's really unusual, especially since he was born and raised a loner. But what's really off is that he naturally kills his prey like you and I, where we strangle it to death. He would have to have some connection to the forest for that to be possible, wouldn't he?"

"Maybe, maybe not. Your father was a loner all his life until he brought you here, and he could hunt like me. But it's true that virtually everyone we know who can hunt that way came from the forest. I don't know. I never did notice that."

"Oh. And also...what did your grandson, Pikekit, look like?"

That question caught the tribe leader off-guard.

"Why do you ask?"

"I'm just curious."

"He looked a lot like Pike Tail, Graystorm's mother. He had her rich brown hair and far-set eyes. However, I would say overall he took more from his mother's side. His hair was tufted and thick, and he had her rounded eyes and face. As for his eye color, no one knows where in the name of Startribe he got that. They were a beautiful pale blue, like the night sky. And they were so expressive and clear that you could almost see what he was thinking."

Millie closed her eyes in thought for a moment. Much of that description lined up with Pit's overall appearance. It made her all the more curious.

"Blossomleaf told me Dovepool had run off in the direction of the willow grove where I came from. Is that true?"

"As far as we know, yes. I found this looking in that direction for her."

He held up a necklace containing two silver dove's feathers.

"I made this for my daughter when she was an apprentice. When I went looking for her after she disappeared, this was all I could find. When your father came here, he came from the direction I'd looked. So yes. Why?"

"I'm just curious, that's all."

"I see."

As the two headed back, Millie thought about what she'd learned, and she went to the warrior's den to think, when Tigerpaw came up to her.

"Hey Millie, do you think you could try teaching me sometime how to pounce like you do when you hunt? I know I probably won't be able to do it as well as you can, but I want to try using it as a fighting move."

"Maybe... but I think you should work on your hunting skills more. I'll tell your mentor that. We can talk about teaching you how to pounce like I do later."

"Okay."

The apprentice headed to the elder's den to help Gorsepaw.

Millie stood there for a moment deep in thought. She reflected on what Cedarstar had told her, and it only added to her desire to find out if Pit really did have a connection to the forest, and they just didn't know it.

 _Thornheart might know of something. I'll ask him._

She headed out of the camp, and to the river, which marked the border between Suntribe and Watertribe. She hid in the reeds as a border patrol approached. In front, she recognized Whiteripple and Birchstripe. And behind them, she saw her target; Thornheart. She stood up, revealing her presence, and crossed over the stepping stones into their territory. The patrol stopped upon closing the distance.

"Millie, what are you doing on our territory?"

"This is something for Thornheart."

The sleek-haired tom came up.

"What is it, Millie?"

"This has something to do with Dovepool and Pikekit."

At that, the tom led Millie away. He glanced back at his tribe-mates.

"You keep patrolling the border. I'll catch up with you."

As the two left, Thornheart stopped under a tall shrub.

"I'm listening Millie, but make it quick."

"I've heard Darkfang's and Cedarstar's side of the story. I want to hear yours. About Dovepool, and Pikekit."

"Okay..." The tom thought for a moment. "Dovepool was expecting kits when I first joined Suntribe. At that point, I was the youngest kit in the nursery. Daisyleaf was Daisykit at the time, and Swiftwind was a member of Skytribe.  
Pikekit was born when I was three years old, a year after I joined Suntribe. He was a cute kit. I didn't have much of a relationship with him as his sister did. Maybe part of that was because he was kind of scared of me. It was after a small incident happened when all three of us were play-fighting, and I accidentally cut his ear. I didn't even realize I had that sharp of nails. Anyway, a few days after that, I don't know entirely what happened, but apparently Pikekit and his sister had been playing hide-and-seek, and the rock pile where Pikekit had hidden was home to an adder nest, and the adders were threatened by him, and Dovepool had to run in and save him before he got bitten. A few moons after that, just when leaf-fall was ending, a fire swept through the camp, and we all had to evacuate. Dovepool ran off, and Blossomleaf went after her. the tribe sheltered at Sunboulders, and for some unknown reason, I left and joined Watertribe. And I've lived with Watertribe ever since."

Millie nodded at him, and she thought about what she'd been told. So much of what she'd been told, from both Cedarstar and Thornheart were matching up with things she'd observed about Pit.

"I know this might seem like a weird question to ask now, but do you think Pikekit might still be alive? Like, if there's a chance?"

"I never did put any real thought into it. I was with Watertribe at the time they found out that Dovepool had died. However, I will say a rather odd thing happened a few years ago."

"Really? What was it?"

"I saw Adderpaw at the river, gazing at her reflection. After a while, she had this weird expression on her face, like there was something in the water. She glanced around briefly, like she heard something, and then looked down at the water again. I climbed up into a tree to see what it was, but I didn't see anything unusual. She eventually turned and headed into the forest."

That was surprising to her. She remembered once seeing an image of her mother replace her reflection when she'd gone to the river, grieving over her loss. Could the same thing have happened there?

"Thanks, Thornheart."

"Hold on, Millie. Why did you want to know about this stuff?"

"I was just curious."

"I see. Also, I've noticed a loner hanging around in your territory. It's weird, he's got like wings growing out of his back. Do you know about this?"

"Yes. His name is Pit. We met him on the outer border of our territory. He's temporarily staying with us, after he accepted my offer of having him visit the tribe, to get an idea for what life is like here."

"Understandable. You know, I never did think about this, but he kind of reminds me of Pikekit. Kind of."

"Oh. Anyway, thanks again, Thornheart."

"No problem."

Millie stopped in the training meadow to think.

 _'He kind of reminds me of Pikekit.'...Hm...that confirms my theory...but there still isn't a direct link I can find...I could just be stirring up nonsense..._

Gazing up at the sky, as the first lights of Silverpelt began to appear, a sudden thought came to her.

 _The lone willow...I remember once finding a flat patch of grass at the base of the tree, as well as footprints...if Pikekit were still alive, and Dovepool headed towards the willow grove..._

 _There's only one way to determine if what I'm thinking is true..._

 _If I were to show him my old home...and see if he recognizes the lone willow._


	34. Pit Remembers

The feeling of someone prodding his ribs woke him up. At first, he softly moaned and nestled his head down further, not wanting to get up, but when the person started shaking him, he yawned, and raised his head up, to see Millie.

"...Mhm...what...?"

"There's something I need to show you."

Pit sat up, and stretched his stiff limbs.

"What is it?"

"You'll have to come with me. It's a surprise."

"Okay."

He got up and followed Millie out of the den. He glanced at the fresh-kill pile as they passed by. Since no one else was up, Millie quickly grabbed a robin out of the pile. When they got to the border, they quickly shared the bird.

"Are we going somewhere?"

"Yes. That's what I have to show you. Where we're going."

"Okay."

Once they finished, they continued on their way, out of the forest, and into a vast prairie. The tall grass waved as a light wind rushed past. Looking around, it seemed to go on forever.

"On the ground, this prairie sure seems big."

"I bet so. I can imagine how easy it would be to get lost out here. Maybe that's why the tribe doesn't know of other things besides that exist beyond its borders."

"Wait, the tribe doesn't know that past their borders, other things are out there?"

"Yep, pretty much. Unless you consider the fact the tribes originally were formed by a clan that lived in a huge mountain range in the direction of the Highstones. And that it's not too uncommon to encounter loners, who come from all different places. Otherwise, the tribes only know of what they see looking from the border."

"Oh. Seems kind of confined to me."

"I'm sure it does, since you're used to having the entire open skies to explore, as well as the land. To us, the forest is big enough."

"Yeah, I guess so."

Pit felt anxiety well up inside him. He wasn't at all ready to explain to her he was an angel who couldn't fly. But Millie did not carry the conversation any further, to some relief.

The two traveled all day, and as the sky turned red with the setting sun, Millie stopped and dug out a little hollow in the ground. She took a bunch of grass, and formed a nest out of the dirt and grass.

"We'll sleep here, and continue on tomorrow, at dawn. If you want to go hunt, you can."

The calling of field birds filled his ears, and he didn't hesitate to go hunt. After some time, he came back carrying a strange bird that looked like a cross between an owl and a swallow.

"It's a 'Whip-poor-will'," Millie remarked. "My dad showed me one once. They get their name from their distinct calls."

"Oh. Do they taste good?"

"I don't know, but we'll find out."

Millie smiled wryly. It made him a bit uneasy, but he said nothing.

As they shared the bird, Pit couldn't help but feel that Millie had some suspicions about him, and it made him uncomfortable. He wished she would tell him what she was showing him.

"Hey, Millie? Does the tribe know we're gone?"

"I told Cedarstar about it yesterday. He'll understand our absence."

"I just don't want to get in trouble, that's all."

"I see."

After he'd eaten his share of the bird, he went over and made his own nest. It felt rather weird using grass and dirt instead of moss to build his nest. When he was done, he lay down in it. Millie went and lay in her own, next to Pit. The grass was surprisingly soft, not as soft as moss but still soft. He kinda liked it.

"Millie?"

"What?" She sat up.

"How come you don't have a tribal name?"

"You mean like the others? I didn't want one. At the time that I was about to be given a tribal name, I rejected the offer, for I was used to being called Millie, and I had no wish to have my name changed. So I've continued with having the name Millie."

"Oh, okay. What would your name have been, had you taken a tribal name?"

"As of now, the tribe would call me Mintblaze."

"Oh. I was just curious."

Millie nodded at him, and curled up, lying on her side. Pit turned over onto his back, and gazed up at the sky. Numerous stars glittered overhead. It felt different looking at the stars here than in Skyworld. He felt some connection to them, and what they represented. As he swept his gaze across the dark blue sky, he heard a faint voice whisper in his ears.

 _We will always be watching over you..._

* * *

Millie turned over onto her other side and gazed at Pit. He was lying on his back, looking up at the lights of Silverpelt. As she looked closely at him, she realized he was not really looking at anything.  
It was then that she noticed his eyes. His brilliant, dark blue eyes were reflecting the light of the stars, like water. And the reflections were as clear and smooth as those reflected by the glassy surface of a lake.

 _Whoa, I've never seen that before. I know my half-brother has commented before on how reflective my eyes are, but that's nothing compared to this. I wonder where he got his eye color from...that dark, pale blue like that...it goes with the color of the night sky perfectly...  
_

As that thought entered her head, she suddenly found herself recalling something Sparrow's Song had told her a quarter-moon before he died. It was about how the forest was discovered by their ancestors, by a clan that lived in the mountains. The person that had discovered the forest, as she recalled Sparrow's Song describing, had brilliant dark blue eyes, comparable in color to the night sky.

That description perfectly described Pit's eyes. In a way that was almost scary. Dark pale blue, or "Cobalt blue" as loners called it, was a very rare eye color, and was a gene unique to forest warriors. Only two people directly along the same bloodline could share a trait that exclusive.

 _Pit has to have some connection to the tribes somewhere, if he's got a trait like that. But...that was almost seven generations ago. How could a single gene travel across that many generations, and never show itself?_

* * *

It was nightfall by the time they reached their destination.

"You see that strip of dark right there?"

She pointed off into the distance. Against the golden hills, Pit could vaguely make out a bumpy strip of dark green."Yeah."

"Those are trees. We're headed there."

After several minutes of walking, the trees came into view. They were willow trees, their drooping branches swaying in the breeze, like curtains.

"This is the willow grove where I was born. Pretty cool, huh?"

"Yeah, it is."

Millie smiled.

"Come on, I'll show you around."

She led him into the grove, showing him various places she remembered from when she was little. When they came to a small clearing, she stopped.

"I was born in this clearing. My sister, Lotus, and I used to play in that hollow log."

Millie pointed to a log covered in moss and fungi. It was completely hollow.

"That log used to be a huge willow tree that had fallen over. But the rest of the tree rotted away, and the trunk was all that remained. It eventually was hollowed out by other animals."

"I see."

Pit suddenly took notice of a holly bush that appeared to have a hollow dug under it. A cluster of moss and leaves that looked to have once been a nest lay under the bush.  
Millie looked at it, and felt sorrow rise up inside her.

"My mother died under that bush, as well as my sister. The very same place she gave birth to me. I can still remember that is if it were yesterday."

"Oh..."

Pit looked around the grove, and suddenly felt something tug at him when he gazed down a small path. Without a word he started heading off into the grove. Millie saw him wander off, and she followed him.

"Pit...?"

Pit didn't seem to hear her. He continued to walk through the grove, looking around. He stopped when he reached an open space.

"I know this place."

He gazed up at a huge limb, and in the back of his mind, he saw it become covered in snow and ice for a second before reverting back to being a plain willow tree limb. Looking around again, he saw a lone willow tree atop a hill. Again, he saw it briefly become covered in snow. But in that second he saw it that way, a single memory came back to him, and started playing through his head.

His memory of when he first met Palutena...

* * *

 _It was in the middle of leaf-bare, and a blizzard unleashed its fury. Lost and alone, he wildly glanced around in search of shelter as he wandered aimlessly through the vast prairie. He'd been walking around that snow-covered prairie for the last few days. After several moments of looking, he spotted a lone tree, and didn't hesitate to walk over to it. It was a huge willow tree, completely blanketed in snow. Grateful to have found somewhere he could get out of the freezing snow and wind, he curled up at the base of the tree, his head tucked in his arms._

 _He lay there for a long time, hoping someone would find him there. Just as it started getting colder, he felt soothing warmth come over him, making him relax, and he raised his head in curiosity._

 _A young goddess stood there, gazing down at him. She carefully picked him up, and stroked his face, where he had a large patch of frostbite. Warmth filled the side of his face for a few moments, and as it diminished, he found the frostbite was gone. As he gazed at the young goddess, wondering who she was, pure white light began to fill the air, that nearly blinded him. He could still feel her nurturing warmth lulling him. It felt good, that pure warmth, after days of being out in the frigid cold. Content, he closed his eyes, and drifted off into a light sleep.  
_

* * *

Pit abruptly opened his eyes, and looked around. He was lying at the base of the lone willow, curled up. Millie stood at the edge of the clearing. She came up and lay next to him. He could tell what she was thinking.

"You recognize this lone willow, don't you?"

He nodded, his head down.

"Yes, I do. And...I realize now what had been tugging at my heart for so long, but that I refused to believe. At this point, I guess I should just tell you everything."

Pit shuddered as he recalled all of his forest memories, trying to keep his emotions at bay.

"I was once a kit in Suntribe. I can tell you've figured this out, but...back then...the tribe knew me as Pikekit."

Millie was more shocked than anything. She hadn't expected Pit to go ahead and admit it.

"You were Pikekit? No wonder Cedarstar and Whitefeather thought you looked familiar."

"Those weren't the names I knew when I was in the tribe. Whitefeather was just an apprentice, and Cedarstar was a warrior. Sunstar was leader at the time I was born. And the tribe's camp was at Snakerocks."

Pit shut his eyes and shuddered again as a small sob escaped from his throat.

"As you know, my mother's name was Dovepool. My father was Graystorm. I never met him though, because he died in battle just a few days before I was born. I was told he was fatally wounded in a clash over Sunboulders, and died upon returning to the camp.  
As a result of my father dying, my mother was very protective of me because of that. There were many incidents in which my life was in danger, and each one made Dovepool all the more concerned for my safety; first was when I was playing hide-and-seek with my sister, and I was ambushed by adders. She had to run in and save me before I got bitten. After that, near the end of greenleaf, a loner's two dogs got loose, and rampaged through the camp. One of them seized me, and would've taken me had my mother not have jumped in and attacked the dog. And finally, when the fire swept through the camp, I was playing by myself, chasing after leaves, when Dovepool called out to me, and I saw this huge burning tree coming down. At the last moment, I got out from under it, and I jumped into her arms. She then took off, away from the forest. She just couldn't handle it anymore, and was going to find some other place to raise me.  
But the very next day, I woke up...and I found her dead. She'd frozen to death while she was asleep. I was left out in the middle of nowhere, with nowhere to go, and no one to help me. We were in the middle of that prairie, just as leaf-bare had come. I was just devastated and filled with utter grief when I realized the loss I was faced with. I'd lost the one person in my life that I cared about most. The one person who I needed more than ever before. And I was only two years old at the time. Even now, after more than a decade has passed...I still find myself having flashbacks of losing my mother...in my dreams..."

As if on cue, he found that memory becoming fresh in his mind. Unable to bear it anymore, he hid his face with his wing as he just lost it, and broke out crying. Streams of tears ran down his cheeks, as he felt all the grief and sorrow come back, as though it had happened all over again.

Millie was in complete shock seeing Pit crying like this. She then understood why Pit had comforted her like he had when she told him about the loss of her mother, Leaf. He'd understood what she was going through, and had felt sympathy for her, as he was dealing with re-experiencing the emotions from his own loss.

After several moments, Pit seemed to regain control of his feelings, and he wiped away the tears that were running down his face.

"In the few days after my mother died, I wandered around the empty prairie, lost and helpless. I had not even the slightest idea how to fend for myself, and I soon was in a search for help. I was cold, hungry, and desperate. I eventually came across this lone willow tree, and sought out shelter under it. Eventually, Lady Palutena found me here. She picked me up, and took me to Skyworld, where I've lived ever since.  
A few weeks after she found me, I suddenly started having dreams that were my father's memories. One night, I went outside and gazed at the stars, in which I realized that my dreams were memories. After that, I noticed Palutena started calling me "Pit". It didn't sound too different than Pikekit to me at the time, and it wasn't until I was five that I realized the difference. But by that point, I'd come to accept Pit as my name, so I didn't think much of the difference."

"But why did she call you Pit, and not your given name, Pikekit?"

"She probably didn't know what my given name was. And now that I've looked at myself, I realize it's my eyes that earn me my name. When I gaze at the stars, they're like pits of water reflecting the starlight."

"I saw that on our way here. Others have noted that mine do that, but not near as clearly as yours. And the color of your eyes goes with the night sky perfectly."

"Yeah...and now, all I have left from the forest is this."

Pit reached down into the front of his chiton and pulled out his father's necklace.

"This once belonged to my father. My mother gave it to me when I was a year old."

He took it off, and let Millie look at it.

It was amazing how simply beautiful it was. The stone was smooth and flat, like the stones you'd find on a riverbed, and it was a lovely aqua green color. A thin strap of leather was attached to it, making it a necklace.

"Since that necklace was the only one I was ever given...I suppose that it's what other warriors will take to remember me, when I've gone and joined Startribe."

"Maybe." She handed the necklace back to him, and he returned it to its place around his neck, and under his chiton. "Let's just hope it's a long time before that happens."

"Yeah..."

Pit rested his head down on his arms, and closed his eyes. Millie saw him relax, his wings down at his sides, and his breaths became long and deep as he dozed off.

Millie lay down next to him, and thought about all that he'd told her. She could vividly see every event as it happened, as though the memories were hers.

A gray-haired tom bleeding to death after returning from a fight; adders cornering her in a rock pile, hissing and spitting; two huge dogs, barking and running around; a burning tree looming overhead as a fire ravaged through the camp; the prairie covered in snow; a young queen lying on the ground, stone cold and lifeless; snow coming down in sheets and the wind howling as she wandered around, looking for help; the lone willow, a mass of snow, its branches touching the ground; a young goddess, reaching forward, and picking her up, caressing her in motherly warmth.

But something was starting to stick out to her. He'd mentioned experiencing flashbacks in his dreams.

 _I wonder what that looks like..._

The thought started to spark her imagination just as she fell asleep.

* * *

A soft whimper woke her up. It was just a little after moonhigh. At first, Millie just sat up and glanced around, in utter confusion. But when she heard it again, she realized it was Pit making that noise, and she glanced over at him, surprised by what she saw.

Pit was tightly curled up on his side, his wings around him as though he were cold. His head was tucked in his arms, and he was leaning to one side, like he was curling up against something. Tears were running down his cheeks, and he was whimpering and sobbing like someone who had just lost their parents.

She then realized what she was seeing; Pit was dreaming of his mother's death, and as many people do, he was physically responding to it by acting like a grieving kit. She'd been told that she used to do it, but not to this extent, from what she could remember.  
It was almost heartbreaking to see Pit like this, just absolutely broken down with grief and sorrow that he'd felt when he was a two-year-old kit. On a whim, she grasped his shoulder, and started shaking him.

"Pit! Pit, wake up!"

Pit jolted upright as he awoke. He glanced around as though gathering his bearings on where he was. Dipping his head, he continued to cry, but seemed to relax a bit when Millie put her arm around him.

He looked up at her, and sat up. Without a moment's hesitation, he leaned into her touch, resting his chin on her shoulder. Millie put both her arms around him, gently rubbing his back. She could feel his tears softly hitting her skin, and she lightly nuzzled his cheek. Pit was a bit surprised by the gesture, and found himself doing the same, taking in Millie's warm scent, which reminded him very much of the nursery, a scent he hadn't smelled for years.

Never had he felt so comforted before. He felt a sharp pang in his heart as he started recalling his memories of the forest, but the pain seemed to go away when he found himself remembering being curled up in his mother's lap, as she hugged him and gently stroked his head. It gave him a feeling of security and love that he'd never felt before.

After a long while, Pit sat up, as Millie released her light hold on him. She put her hands on his shoulders, and smiled as she gazed at him.

"I understand it's hard to let go of grief. In fact, when I was younger, I used to have the same problem you do. I would have flashbacks of when I lost my mother while I was sleeping, and I'd start crying in my sleep, acting like a kit who'd lost its parents. Sometimes I would feel like I was internally trapped in the past, by the grief and emotion that kept coming back to me."

She reached up and wiped away a tear that was trickling down his cheek.

"But a few years ago, I was able to get out of that, and put the past and all its emotions behind me. And it was when I told Cedarstar about it. He told me that the best thing I could do was just let my emotions come to me, and accept what happened. Accept the fact my mother was gone, and be grateful for the time I had with her when she was alive. It was hard for me to do it, for I sometimes almost couldn't bear the amount of emotion that would weigh on me, but I look back on it now, and I'm grateful to have gone through that hard time, for I feel like now I can actually move on with my life, and look forward to what the future brings."

Pit looked down for a moment, and shuddered. He remembered Chiron telling him something like that. To accept the past, and embrace the emotions it brings. After a while, Millie put her hand under his chin, and made him look up at her.

"It's hard to find a place to start, just as it is to go through the process of accepting the past. But telling me about it was probably the best way you could've done so. It's easier to try and accept the past when you're being forced to think about it as you tell someone else what happened. So I guess what I'm trying to say is I'm rather proud of you."

At that, Pit managed a small smile, before he lay down again. Much to Millie's surprise, he partially lay down on her lap, curled up. She rested her arm on his back, and gently stroked him. The feeling of her doing this once again brought back that feeling of security, and he relaxed as the soothing warmth of her body heat came over him.


	35. Reunited

It was a little after sunhigh when the two came back.

"So, how did it go?" Cedarstar came up to them.

"It went well," Millie replied.

Cedarstar nodded once.

"I'm glad to hear that."

The tom walked off to the elder's den. Millie started heading to the warrior's den along with Pit, when Whitefeather came up to her.

"I know you just got back, but I need you to help Liontail with gathering herbs for me. He's out by the marsh looking for watermint. It would also be great if you could find some lavender. It's good for treating colds."

Millie looked back at Pit.

"I guess you're kind of on your own. See you later, Pit."

Pit watched Millie leave, and he went to the warrior's den, and groomed himself. After several moments, he stood up and started to head out of the camp. He stopped when he saw Cedarstar.

"I'm going to go hunt for a while."

"Just don't be out for too long."

Pit nodded at him, and headed into the forest. He decided to go hunt by bracken near the outer border of the territory.

The high-pitched _cheep_ of a sparrow made his ears twitch. It sounded really close. But when he looked in the direction the bird's calls were coming from, it was nowhere in sight. There was a juniper shrub tangled in a mass of briars, and a clump of nettles, but that was it. He was about to turn and go look for something else to hunt, thinking the bird was up in the trees, when he heard it again, coming from the same place. For a second, there was nothing, but then he saw a flicker of brown and white inside the undergrowth, and realized the bird was in the juniper shrub. That explained why he couldn't see it.

At first, he thought to himself whether or not the bird was worth going after. With all the thorny briars in the way, he would likely end up cutting himself, and the bird could easily fly off, or just go deeper into the shrub, and out of his reach. Sparrows were skittery birds; even just the slightest rustle of leaves alarmed them. It was easier to catch them in an open clearing, where there wasn't any undergrowth or anything that might make some sudden noise, and scare them away. But when the bird came out of the shrub, and landed on a fallen tree branch, he decided to go for it.

Using the tall grass as cover, he slowly crept towards the bird, his wings out a bit for balance. His eyes blazed with the fierceness of a feline on the hunt. The bird turned around, and Pit froze, watching its every movement, hoping it wouldn't fly away. Aroused, the sparrow hopped along the branch a few times, but it didn't take off. When it turned its back to him again, he continued to advance, until he was a few feet away. Just when the bird seemed to get settled, he pounced. Too late, the bird tried to fly away, and he successfully caught it by its wing. To his surprise however, the bird managed to wriggle free from his grasp, and flee into the briars. Pit tried to scare the sparrow out of hiding, but he only succeeded in scratching up his hands.

As he started heading in the direction of Snakerocks, he thought he heard rustling of undergrowth behind him, but when he looked back there was nothing but forest. He saw a squirrel scamper by with a berry in its mouth, but other than that there was nothing. He shrugged and kept going, but he kept stopping every few seconds, and looking around. He got the feeling like he was being followed, by someone or something, and it was making him uncomfortable.

He shook it off when he spotted a plump chaffinch standing on the ground in a small clearing. He instinctively dropped into a low crouch, keeping to the shadows of the bracken. All his senses were sharp, focused on making his catch. Silently he crept towards the bird, every move calculated and precise.

Yet, the bird still sensed him. With a _chirp_ of alarm, the bird made a few short hops before taking off. Pit rushed out of hiding and pounced, but the bird was faster, and he got nothing but feathers.

Suddenly, his ears twitched at the rustling of undergrowth drawing near. He felt his heart begin to pound in his chest as the feeling of being followed came back to him. When he looked behind him, this time he saw a thin figure crouched down in the shadows of the undergrowth, like it was stalking something.

Without warning, the figure pounced at him, much to his surprise. Before he could do anything, the person knocked him sideways, and clawed at his shoulders. Pit sharply surged upright, knocking away his attacker.

He was surprised to find his attacker was a girl. She looked to be about a year or two older than him. She had a rounded face like he did, but her dark yellow eyes were set closer together. Her hair was dark red with streaks of ginger, and her thick bangs were tufted like his. For some reason, he recognized her, but couldn't think why.

It barely registered when she attacked again, her teeth bared in a snarl. He reared up and locked himself in with his opponent, pulling her to the ground. She reacted by scratching his face, and throwing him sideways. Just as he was getting up, she latched onto his back, and bit down on his wing, causing him to cry out. Clenching his jaw, he furiously beat his wings, and the girl got off of him. But he didn't have time to make his own move for she quickly pounced again, and caught him on the side of the head.

As the two wrestled with each other, Pit tried to think why he recognized her. He felt like he knew her, but it was a long time ago that he met her. The two flipped over a couple times as he pounced on her, before she ended up on top, and pinned him down. She stood there glaring at him, her teeth bared. He noticed that she was missing some of her front teeth as he looked at her now, and that her jaw was crooked. That was when he finally realized why she seemed so familiar.

"...Ah...Adderkit..."

At that, she was utterly confused. She got off of him, and stood back away from him as he got to his feet.

"Who are you? And why are you calling me a kit? My name is Adderstripe now. I'm a warrior."

Pit just gazed back at her for a long while. He suddenly found himself looking down at her necklace. Hanging down from it was a large white feather.

"That's...that's one of my feathers."

Adderstripe looked down at it.

"It is?"

Pit spread out his wings, and plucked out one of his feathers. Sure enough, it was exactly the same as the one on her necklace.

"Hold on..."

She took the feather from him and sniffed it. It smelled like wilderness, and of the tribe, from him spending time with them. But when she sniffed the base of it, she found that the same scent she'd smelled on the one she was wearing was on this one. It wasn't the same as the tribe's general scent though. There was something else about the scent that seemed to spark her memory. It was the kind of scent that distinguished people. And she couldn't think who had carried that scent. But as she thought about it for a moment, letting her brain process the scent, it hit her. Her younger brother had a scent similar to it.

 _If he's carrying my brother's scent, then..._

She looked up at him with a look of pure shock on her face, realizing what she was seeing.

"...P-Pikekit..."

Filled with a mix of joy of surprise, she ran up and threw herself into his arms. It was a really shocking to her to be seeing him after so many years had gone by. Pit gently hugged her, and kind of put his wings around her. After a long while, she broke apart from him.

"I can't believe it's you...but how can this be? Where have you been all this time?"

Pit spread his wings again. One of them was bleeding where Adderstripe had bitten it.

"I've been living in this place in the skies called Skyworld, as an angel. I'm now a servant to the goddess of light, Lady Palutena, and the captain of her army."

"Oh."

"It's really a nice place. And my name is Pit now. Lady Palutena named me that, for how my eyes reflect the starlight like a pit of water."

"I see..."

Adderstripe was silent for a moment.

"Are you happy?"

"What do you mean?"

"Are you happy? With your life there?"

"I..."

Pit didn't know what to say. He'd never thought about that. Was he really happy with how he was living his life?

But Adderstripe took his silence as an answer.

"Does the tribe know who you are?"

"Wait, you knew I was here? I never saw you!"

"Yeah. I saw you several days ago, by the river, when I went to go talk with Thornheart."

"Oh...yeah, that. I was hunting."

"I could tell, because moments later, I saw you pounce, and you stood up with a vole in your grasp. You sure like to hunt, and you're good at it."

"What can I say? I like it."

"Well anyway, does the tribe know that you were born here?"

"They don't need to know, do they?"

"Of course they do, everyone thinks you're dead."

"They do?"

"Yeah. A few days after Dovepool ran off, her father, Cedarstar, when looking for her. All he found was this."

She reached into her bag, and pulled out a necklace made with brown string. Two dove's feathers hung down in the middle of it.

"Cedarstar told the tribe Dovepool was gone. One warrior, Hawkwing, asked about you, and Cedarstar said he never saw any sign of you, but that it was more than likely you were dead too. He explained that a kit your age wouldn't have been able to survive long enough to get help, and would've died from the cold and starvation. And that's what the tribe has believed for the last several years. That you were a victim of the circumstances, and died from them."

Adderstripe put the necklace away, then firmly put her hands on his shoulders.

"But Pit, really. How can this be? How are you still alive?"

Pit looked down for a moment.

"After my mother died, I wandered around that prairie for a few days. I didn't know what to do, and I couldn't think of anything other than that. To be honest, I probably would've died, had things gone differently. I don't know how many days had gone by, but when it was particularly stormy, I came across this lone willow tree and sought out shelter under it. Palutena found me there, and she took me to Skyworld, where I've lived ever since."

"Oh...You were lucky you were found."

"Yeah. And I'm really grateful she did. It sort of gave me a second chance at life, and be able to grow up and truly see the world. Even if I grew up to become something I'm not deep inside."

Adderstripe looked down at the ground, and stepped back.

"I see..."

She walked away a bit. Somewhat confused, Pit went up to her.

"What? What is it?"

"It's like you're back from the dead. You don't know how much this will mean to everyone. What it means to me..."

"Hey, it's okay."

Pit gently put his hand on her shoulder.

To his surprise, she turned and nuzzled her head up under his chin.

"I've really missed you."

At first, Pit didn't know what to do, but he then lowered his head, and nuzzled her back.

"I've missed you too."


	36. Soulmates

"Hey Pit, you want to come hunt with me and Adderstripe?"

Pit looked up from preening his wings as Millie peeked into the den. She was dripping wet, her tunic clinging to her sides and her hair all matted and thin-looking.

"In the rain?"

Millie shrugged.

"You don't have to come if you don't want to. I can't make you. However, I would really like it if you did."

Pit found himself getting to his feet and following Millie outside. It was pouring rain, and muddy puddles littered the ground. As they walked to the entrance of the camp, Pit noticed the fresh-kill pile was not out in the middle of the camp, but under a shrub near the Highrock.

"It's so the fresh-kill doesn't turn to crowfood being all wet," Adderstripe remarked, as she joined up with the two of them, and they headed out into the forest.

"Were going to go hunt at Snakerocks," Millie said, looking back at Pit. "Might seem dangerous, but the adders won't be active at this time. They will have already hunkered down in their nests for leaf-bare. Just stay out of the old dens and crevices, and you'll be fine."

Walking through the forest, it wasn't much drier under the trees than it was in the open camp, since most of the trees had shed their leaves. By the time they reached the Snakerocks, Pit was as drenched as Millie was, and he kept shaking his head in discomfort, not liking the feeling of his wet hair on his face and the back of his neck.

The cooing of a pigeon distracted him, and he saw a whole flock gathered at a large puddle near the old Highrock. He quickly brushed his hair out of his face, then crouched down, preparing to make his catch. With his wings out for balance, he pounced. The birds took off in panic as Pit brought down two of them. He landed in the puddle, but he didn't care. He was already soaked from the rain.

"Nice catch, Pit," Adderstripe called.

He hid the dead pigeons under a holly bush to keep them out of the rain.

Pit looked around for another thing to hunt, when he saw a mouse hiding from the rain under a fern. He slowly crept towards the mouse, keeping his weight on his hips so he wouldn't make as much impact on the ground. But just when he pounced, he saw Millie go after it too. She collided with him, and they flipped over a couple of times before hitting the wall of the ravine. The mouse scampered away, unharmed.

"Oh! Sorry, I didn't realize you were hunting that mouse too."

Millie got off of Pit, and stepped back to let him get up.

"It's okay, I didn't either," he replied as he rose to his feet. "Although it would've been nicer had we not have hit the wall."

He rubbed the back of his head, still kind of dazed from the impact.

"You know, I never realized you had such a thin figure until now."

"Huh?"

Pit looked down at himself with a start. The fibula brooch that held his chiton in place had come off, and the straps of his undershirt were torn, revealing his torso. Millie was right; he _did_ have a thin figure. But at the same time, he also had a decent amount of muscle in his chest and his back, especially around his shoulder blades, where his wings were attached. It was actually kind of attractive. Rather embarrassed, Pit wrapped his wings around himself, then went to look for his brooch.

Millie kind of chuckled a bit in amusement, then went to help him look for his pin. Strangely, it was nowhere to be found.

"It probably went flying when you hit the wall. We'll find it eventually. And you actually have no need to be embarrassed. A lot of toms only cover their privates until they reach old age, then they start fully covering themselves."

It felt weird, not having anything covering his torso. He was so used to having full clothes on that he felt kind of naked having his upper half exposed.

As the two went to retrieve the pigeons Pit had brought down, Adderstripe came up carrying a raccoon. Her eyes went wide when she saw Pit without his chiton on completely.

"Wow, quite the figure you've got."

Pit blushed as he sheepishly hid his face with his wing.

Millie went to go retrieve the shrew she'd caught when she saw something glittering in the mud near where they had collided. She dug it up, and examined it.

It was a hinged pin attached to a circular plate made of gold. A red gem was embedded in the plate.

After getting her piece of prey, she held up the pin upon approaching Pit and Adderstripe.

"Pit, is this it?"

"Yes, it is! Where was it?"

"It was buried in the mud where we had collided. The force of me hitting you must've knocked it loose."

Millie opened it up and took the two ends of his chiton so they were crossing over each other on his shoulder. She slipped the pin in where the ends overlapped, then went to close it, only to find the little end that the tip of the pin would go in had broken off. No wonder the brooch had come off so easily.

"It will work for the time being. When we get back to camp, I'll make a little makeshift pin for you. I may even be able to fasten it to the base of this one."

"I'd really like it if you did. That gem is very precious to me."

"I bet so. Well, whatever makes you happy."

* * *

Cedarstar was rather pleased when he saw the fresh-kill the trio brought back.

"I appreciate you three for completing that task. I know with all the rain we're not very motivated to go out and hunt, but it's for the good of the tribe, and putting your tribe's needs before your own is vital to being a loyal tribe member. I am grateful for you doing so."

The three went and put their fresh-kill in the pile, then headed to the warrior's den to dry off.

"Wow, you're muddy," Millie noted, looking Pit over.

"Hm?" He looked down at himself. Sure enough he was covered in mud. Most of it had washed off in the rain, but his clothes still had brown stains on them.

"It'll wash out eventually. I wouldn't worry about it too much."

Millie went to her nest, and shuffled through the bedding, revealing a small bag tied shut with blue string. She opened it up, revealing numerous animal bones, claws, and teeth, as well as a small knife.

"It's for making pins. I don't mind if you watch."

Millie combed her bangs out her face, and sat down in her nest, where she silently worked. Pit sat down in his own nest, and watched her in fascination.

She started with taking a cougar's fang, and whittling it down to a thin strip of bone that tapered to a point. On the thicker end, she hollowed out a small hole, then set the piece aside. Taking a piece of a bird's wing bone, she carved out two holes equal in distance from the end of the bone, one of which didn't go through all the way. She pulled out a piece of thin leather strapping, and cut a small piece off. This was then strung through the hole that went all the way through. The cougar's tooth was strung onto the leather, and the end was smoothed out. She strung the other end through the hole, and tied both ends together on the side of the bone opposite of the cougar tooth.

With a small piece of rib, she carved it down to half its thickness, flat on one side, except for near the end. A small, curved notch was cut here, just a little bit bigger than the cougar tooth's tip. She thinned out a tiny bit of the end, then cut a tiny hole in the thinner part. Taking care not to force it into place, she inserted the rib into the other hole. Once it was in place, she took one of the scrap pieces of bone, cut down to the length of her nail, and stuck it into the hole she'd made in the rib. This kept the rib piece from coming out of the hole it was wedged in.

The result was a simple pin with a base that could easily have things added to it for decoration. The leather strap acted as a hinge, and the end of the cougar tooth fit snugly into the notch on the rib when closed.

She made another one identical to the first, but this one she took a piece of leather and wove it around the base. With a flat piece of white wood, she carved out what looked like a wing, and made a hole in the bottom. In the side, where the main shaft of the wing ended, she made two slits, just slightly wider than the leather was thick. She went out and fetched a few berries from a holly bush, then came back inside. With her fist, she crushed the berries, and used the flesh to color the wing a light shade of red. She then strung it onto the leather, threading one end through the slights, and the other through the hole. She tied the ends off, and trimmed off the excess length.

"Here Pit, give me your brooch."

Although a bit reluctantly, he removed the one he was wearing, and handed it to Millie. She set it with the rest of her things, then took the pin she'd just finished, and slipped it onto his chiton.

"This is just until I figure out how I can potentially attach the pin to the base of your other one."

Pit looked over at his shoulder, and found himself admiring how much effort Millie had put into making that little pin. He smiled gratefully at her, then arched his back up and vigorously beat his wings, shaking out all the water that was in them.

Millie put her things away, and returned them to their place under her nest. She then headed outside to talk with Cedarstar.

Moments after she left, Swiftwind came into the den.

"Hey, Pit. I just got back from hunting. I actually managed to kill my prey the way Millie does."

"Good for you."

"It was easy, though. I was hunting an old robin that struggled taking off. So not too exciting."

Swiftwind eyed the pin on Pit's shoulder.

"Millie sure has become rather fond of you."

"I guess, I haven't really been paying attention."

"You like her, don't you?"

That put him on the edge of being extremely embarrassed for some reason.

"Wha-?!"

Swiftwind giggled.

"I can see it on your face. You like her."

"I do not! Maybe as a friend, but how you're putting it, great Startribe, no!"

But as he said that, his brain started to question whether that was true. Ever since he'd met her, just her presence seemed to have a strange affect on him, and he would get this odd feeling of attraction towards Millie. He was never fully aware of it until now, and as he thought about it now, he realized that he'd never felt the way he did with anyone before he came to the forest, and he didn't know what it was, or why he felt that way.

 _Do I like her?...Not just as a friend, but something else?...I don't know...I've been real close to other people before, but not like this...Maybe it's because I've been the only one of my kind for the last several years, and have just been longing for close companionship...  
_

"I know you're trying to deny it. I'm not surprised. You should say something to her next chance you get."

Pit sharply glared at him.

"Would you just stop? I can't think about that right now."

The tom just nodded and went to curl up in his nest. Pit rested his head down in his arms, as he subconsciously tried to comprehend what it was that made him so attracted to Millie.

* * *

It continued to rain as night fell. Millie came in soaked, and she shook herself off the moment she came inside.

"It's probably going to be raining like this for the next few moons. Then it will go from rain to snow as leaf-bare comes."

"Not much fun, huh?"

"Nope, not really. What's more, it gets colder around this time, and being cold and wet is not fun at all. It gets to be quite miserable real fast."

Millie reached around and undid her belt, and set it aside. Then, much to Pit's shock, she took off her tunic.

Underneath, she wore a thin undershirt that was cut off in the middle, so it only covered her chest, and a loose skirt uneven in length, that was tied around her waist.

But the thing that got him the most was just how slender of a figure she had. It almost seemed unreal. Her back curved in and out beautifully, and her muscular shoulders flowed perfectly into her chest. She had a gorgeous skin tone; real light, like the color of cream that gave rise to a lovely shade of tan on her arms and legs, where she'd gotten tan from living in the wild.

Millie abruptly looked over at him.

"Would you not...stare at me like that? It's scaring me."

Pit snapped out of his thoughts, and shook his head, slightly confused.

"Ah! Sorry. I just-"

"I know. I get that a lot."

Millie looked down and scratched the back of her head. She seemed to be wanting to tell him something, but was having a hard time thinking how she wanted to say it.

But she was quickly distracted when Sandfeather came in limping.

"Are you okay? What happened?"

"I was climbing up a tree to catch a finch, when my feet suddenly slipped out from under me, and I fell. I landed funny, and twisted my ankle."

"Has Whitefeather seen it?"

"Yeah. She applied nettle leaves to help with the swelling, then gave me some poppy seeds for the pain. She told me to stay in camp for a few days, if not a little longer."

"Oh. Well, at least that gives you an excuse to not have to go out and hunt in the rain."

They both burst out laughing.

"Yes, there is that. Although I do enjoy hunting, never mind the rain. In fact, I probably like it more. You don't have to worry about competing with other animals for prey."

As the two continued to talk, Pit curled up in his nest and started grooming himself. But he couldn't stop thinking about how he felt towards Millie. He wished he knew why he felt the way he did, when he never had before. It was something he struggled to understand.

 _I'll figure it out eventually,_ he thought, as he flopped down onto his side and drifted off into a light sleep.

* * *

The days went by, and Pit found himself starting to become rather restless. He wanted to somehow tell someone how he felt, but he couldn't think how he wanted to express himself, and how he could describe his feelings. It left him kind of frustrated and unsettled.

It continued to rain in a torrential downpour, without ceasing or even letting up in the least, and as Millie had said, it was miserable. The ground couldn't hold all the water, and some of the dens, including the warrior's den, started leaking. It was getting increasingly difficult to find dry bedding, and the elders and queens often complained about it.

Pit found he was being asked to go hunt more, and once, as they were heading out to hunt, Millie explained to him why.

"Like us, our prey doesn't like the cold and wet either, and they go into hiding. It's harder to find prey out in the open, where you can catch them. So we have to hunt more often to provide enough food for the tribe."

"Oh. Makes sense."

"Like I said when we met, we hunt to survive. You really get an idea now for just how precious every piece of prey is to us..."

She trailed off as her ears twitched at the chattering of a squirrel. At the foot of the Great Sycamore, the bushy-tailed critter stood beneath a bare shrub, collecting seeds.

Millie thought for a moment whether or not it was worth going after that squirrel. The great Sycamore was so close it was all too easy for the critter to scamper up the tree, and out of danger. But if done right, it could be caught. She was snapped out of her thoughts when she saw Pit preparing to go catch it.

"That might not be worth going after. Notice how close to the tree it is."

But Pit didn't seem to hear her, and he continued to creep up on the squirrel. The instant the squirrel put its back to him, he pounced. Just as Millie had thought, the critter sensed him coming, and it stuffed another seed in its mouth before climbing up the tree. But instead of just giving up the chase, Pit crouched down with his wings out, as though he were preparing to take off.

"Oh no, you don't-!"

He sharply jumped straight up, flapping his wings to gain more altitude, and landing neatly on a thick limb. The squirrel continued its way higher and higher up into the tree, and Pit continued to follow it. Millie became increasingly anxious as he got further and further away from the ground. By the time he slowed his rate of ascent, he was high enough up that if he fell, he could easily end up killing himself by landing the right way, breaking his neck.

"Pit, get down from there! You're going to get yourself killed!"

Pit ignored her, and kept climbing. He was determined to catch that squirrel. The critter finally stopped climbing and perched itself on a long branch to nibble on its seed. Seeing his chance, he silently crept over onto the branch the squirrel was on, and just when the squirrel could've sensed him, he grabbed it by its neck, strangling it. It was soon dead. But before he could start climbing down, the branch groaned under the angel's weight before it snapped, causing Pit to cry out as he began to fall, helplessly beating his wings.

Millie watched in shock as Pit plummeted towards the ground. She could see he was using his wings, but it didn't seemed to be doing anything. A few moments later, the angel came down and painfully hit the ground, head-first. He tumbled over a couple of times, and ended up on his side.

"Pit!"

Millie ran up to him, fearing for the worst. He was completely unresponsive and limp. However, much to Millie's shock, his chest was still slowly and steadily expanding and retracting as he breathed. She figured his wings had slowed his fall to some degree, and he was just knocked unconscious from the force of the impact.

Suddenly, Cedarstar and three other warriors came charging through the brush, alarmed by Pit's cries. Cedarstar's eyes was almost immediately drawn to Pit's unconscious form.

"Millie, what happened?"

"He went after a squirrel that we saw, and it went up in the tree. He climbed up the tree after it, and just after he caught it, the branch he was standing on broke, and he fell. I saw him using his wings, but it didn't seem to do anything, except maybe slow his fall."

"How high up was he?"

"He was a little more than halfway up, maybe higher. You can actually see the branch he was on at the time he fell."

She pointed up into the leafy canopy. A long branch about three quarters of the way up the tree was broken in the middle, and was hanging by a sliver of the inner flesh. There were numerous other broken branches and sticks from Pit colliding with them as he fell.

"Wow, that's a long fall. Is he still alive?"

"Yeah, which surprises me. He's just unconscious."

"I see. Thanks, Millie."

Cedarstar bent down and carefully positioned his hands under the angel, gently picking him up. He was surprisingly light, and easy to carry.

When they got to the camp, much of the tribe was shocked when they saw Pit. Daisyleaf and Thornfang explained to them what happened while Millie followed Cedarstar to the medicine den. Whitefeather was tending to Sandfeather's ankle when he came in. She was shocked when she saw he was carrying Pit.

"Great Startribe, what happened to him?"

"He chased a squirrel up the Great Sycamore, and he fell. He's not dead, but it is probably for the best he was with you, since there is probably some damage done that we can't see."

Whitefeather nodded at him.

"Put him near the back of the den there. I will tend to him in a moment."

Cedarstar went to the back of the den, and carefully set Pit down. The floor of the den was blanketed in bedding here, to be used by people who needed to stay in the medicine den for whatever reason. Millie arranged some of the bedding into a little nest, where she sat down, and smoothed out the feathers on Pit's wings. She was about to get up when Cedarstar looked back at her, but Whitefeather shook her head.

"I'm okay with her being there. In fact, it's probably better she's here when Pit wakes up."

Cedarstar nodded once at her, then left the den.

"Why did you say that?"

"Pit's gotten rather close to you, from what I've observed. It would very much comfort him to see you rather than me when he woke up. Given how old I am, my presence would probably scare him."

"You're not that old. Cedarstar and Darkfang are older than you."

"Not by much. I don't know what I'm going to do. Cherryleaf is dead, Heatherfur is now a nursery queen...I need an apprentice, but none of the kits seem right for the job. And the longer I wait, the harder things get on me."

The crying of a hurt kit made Whitefeather look up. She peeked outside, to see a ginger-haired kit with a thistle thorn stuck in its hand, trying to get it out.

"We really need to fix that briar wall. Anyway, you know what to do when he wakes up, right?"

"Yep."

Whitefeather left the den.

Millie reached into her bag of supplies which she had fetched from the warrior's den, and took out Pit's fibula brooch, along with the pin she'd made. She'd been trying to figure out how to attach the two for a while, and she now had a possible solution.

She took a flat piece of bone and carved out a small hole the same diameter as the pin on the brooch, as well as two slits near the ends. A piece of leather was then strung through one end, and then set aside.

With the pin she'd made, she smoothed down the surface of the bird bone, and made several slits in it. She set this aside as well, and then took a small rib and cut a thin notch in the thicker end. She cut out two holes, and then did the same with another. These she fit onto the base of the brooch's hinge, and stuck a piece of thin bone through the holes so they couldn't come off.

Taking the flat piece of bone, she slipped it onto the needle, sliding it all the way down to the hinge. She then slipped on the pin. She loosely looped the leather strap twice around each end of the hinge base, tied individually in a knot, and then threaded through the bird bone. One end of the leather was woven through the slits she'd cut. Both she had emerge from a hole next the notched rib, and then looped around the ribs and tied together.

The result was the bone pin was tied onto the needle of the brooch. The flat bone piece and the leather attached to it kept the needle from moving around on its hinge. When put on a piece of clothing, the bone pin wouldn't be visible.

Suddenly, Millie heard a soft whimper, and she turned to see Pit's hand twitch. With a soft grunt, he shifted his limbs, his face contorted in pain. Millie put the brooch down, and gently rested her arm on him, stroking his head.

"Pit...You're going to be alright..."

At the sound of her voice, Pit let out a small moan, and relaxed a bit. After a long moment, he opened his eyes, and wearily looked up.

"...huh?...M-Millie..."

He slowly raised his head and looked around.

"...M-Millie...wh-what...what am I doing here..?"

"You fell out of the Great Sycamore, chasing a squirrel. You've been out since Sunhigh."

It took him a moment to remember.

"...Oh, yeah that...And...I-I realize now...I shouldn't...h-have done that..."

"Yeah, you need to be careful when chasing prey up trees. Often times, it's just not worth it. Anyway, is there anything you need, Pit?"

At first, he couldn't think of anything, but then his stomach growled loudly. He nodded slightly.

"...D-Do you think you could...get me a piece of fresh-kill? I'm...I'm really hungry..."

Millie nodded, and she headed to the fresh-kill pile. She chose a robin from the pile, and took it back to the medicine den, where Pit had managed to prop himself up a bit. The moment she set the bird down in front of him, he bent forward and started tearing away at it.

"Th-Thanks..."

Pit scarfed down that robin pretty quickly. Millie then brought him a vole, and a sparrow for herself.

"Hey Pit, I need to ask you something."

He looked up from his vole.

"What?"

"When you fell, I saw you were using your wings, but it wasn't doing anything. What was that about?"

Pit looked down at the ground, his face hot with embarrassment. He'd never told Millie about the unique disability he had, and he hadn't expected her to find out about it so soon.

"I...I knew you would find out eventually. And...it's really embarrassing..."

He gazed back at his wings, and fluttered them.

"I can't fly."

At that, Millie was utterly shocked.

"You're...You're an angel, and you can't fly?"

Pit closed his eyes and nodded.

"Yeah...I'm a flightless angel."

"How come?"

"I don't know. Really, I don't. I was never given an explanation why. My wings are fine, it's not an injury or something like that that's keeping me from flying. It's just...I don't know. All I know is that I was told, when I was six years old, that even though I have wings, I can't fly with them. And I've just left it at that for the last several years."

"Oh. Almost makes you question why even have wings if they're of no use."

"Well...my wings aren't entirely useless. I can glide for a short time with them, but if I try to flap them to try and fly, I fall. They still provide some lift, just not enough to achieve flight, I guess. I don't know, I don't really think much of it now."

"Oh. I was just curious."

"I wish I could fly, though."

Pit licked his lips as he finished his vole. He started to sit up, but was unable to when his left shoulder was seized by excruciating pain, causing his arm to give way from underneath him. Millie rushed to his side, and bent down so she was level with him.

"Pit, what's wrong?"

"It's...It's my shoulder...it really hurts..."

He tried to sit up again, but the pain of his shoulder made him falter. Millie had him turn over onto his other side, and she examined his shoulder. She found that part of his shoulder, around where his collar bone connected to his arm, was swollen, and Pit winced when she touched it.

"Pit, can you move your shoulder at all?"

As though to answer her, he tried to move his shoulder around, but it only took a second before it became too painful to do so. As he let his shoulder go limp, Millie heard a faint cracking noise, like the ends of a snapped stick being rubbed together. She didn't have to guess to know his collar bone was broken. Not too surprising, since he'd landed on his shoulder when he fell.

"I expected to find that. You've broken your collar bone. It doesn't look that bad, but you'll need to take it easy for the next half-moon or so."

Millie had him take off his scarf and slip off the strap of his undershirt so she could tend to his shoulder. She then started with taking nettle leaves, and chewing them up into a pulp, which she gently applied to his shoulder, where it was swollen. After a moment, she set the chewed up leaves aside, and took comfrey roots and chewed them up. This, she applied to his shoulder, then wrapped a piece of cloth over it.

"It's to help the bone heal. The nettle was for the swelling. It's not something you want to keep on your skin for a long period of time, since it's nettle."

It was then that Whitefeather came in. She was surprised to see Millie tending to Pit.

"I'm impressed. I never educated you on medicine herbs, and neither did Tawny Leaf, yet you know what the different herbs do, and how to use them, almost as though you were a tribe healer."

Millie looked back at her.

"I learned from watching you and Tawny Leaf. I remember you used comfrey and nettle leaves on Thistleheart when he broke his ankle trying to get free from a fox trap."

"That's true, I did use comfrey and nettle on him. Tawny Leaf had also used them on Dovepool when she broke her hand in the process of rescuing Adderstripe from a landslide."

Pit seemed to kind of perk up a bit at the mentioning of Dovepool. Whitefeather noticed this, but didn't think much of it, and she sat down at the other end of the den, and started sorting through a pile of herbs left for her by one of the apprentices.

"Wait, you were never taught anything about medicine herbs?"

"Nope," Millie replied, as she finished tending to Pit's shoulder. "Most of my training consisted of learning how to hunt and fight, the rules of the warrior code, and stuff like that. I just happen to be rather intrigued by how different herbs were used for different things when I was growing up. I would watch what Whitefeather did whenever someone came to her for something, making note of the herbs she used. I did that with the tribe healer before her, which was Tawny Leaf. That's how I know so much about medicine herbs."

"Oh."

Pit tried to get up again, but when he faltered because of his shoulder, Millie offered her hand to him, which he gratefully accepted, and she helped pull him up. He staggered upon getting to his feet, still dazed from being knocked out.

"You'll need to stay in camp for a few days to let your shoulder heal. Try not to lay down on your left side too much, as that can put strain on your shoulder."

Pit just nodded at her as he slipped on his undershirt and put his scarf back on.

"I may come and check on you every now and then," Whitefeather called, looking back. "If your shoulder starts to really hurt, let me know."

"Thanks, I will."

Pit immediately went to the warrior's den, and curled up in his nest. Adderstripe was there, carving necklace beads out of wood.

"Oh. Hey, Pit. I heard what happened earlier. You okay?"

He turned to look at her.

"Yeah. Although I hurt my shoulder when I fell."

"You're lucky it's your shoulder you damaged, and not your neck. You would've been dead for sure."

"I came close to injuring my neck. Had I not have come down at an angle, I would have."

"Oh. Anyway, I'm glad to see you're okay."

Pit smiled a bit, then turned back around so his back was to the wall of the den, and started preening his wings, ignoring the slight throbbing in his shoulder as he put a little bit of weight on it.

* * *

It was hard enough on Pit trying to cope with being confined in the camp due to his injury, but something else that he was trying to deal with in his heart was really getting to him.

He still had no idea why he felt the way he did towards Millie, and had given up trying to figure it out. After all this time of holding onto his feelings towards Millie, he'd made up his mind to talk to her, really talk to her, about how he felt. But he'd never done something like this before, and didn't know what to do, or how to express his feelings.

Multiple times, other warriors pointed it out to him that he liked her, and it didn't help. Especially Swiftwind. He was a close friend to Millie, so he almost always had to bring up the subject of Pit liking her whenever he was around, and telling Pit he should say something to her about it. Luckily, the tom wasn't around Pit all that much, so it wasn't too irritating. It was what he said and how he said it that made his comments very much a hindrance.

"I know I've said this to you before, but it's now or never."

Pit looked up as the black-and-white haired tom came into the den. The white streaks in his hair looked gray from the rain.

"The sooner you tell her, the better."

"Swiftwind, just stop. I don't need you ranting on about that again. I get enough from most of the tribe telling me about it."

Swiftwind seemed oblivious to the irritated tone of Pit's voice.

"You know, it's rather strange. You seem very attracted to her, but not interested in trying further develop a relationship with her. Why is that?"

"I don't know, okay? I've never known. Now leave me alone."

Pit turned around so his back was to the tom.

That made Swiftwind pick up on Pit's irritation, and he was silent for a moment.

"Pit..."

" _Leave me alone!_ "

Without thinking, and before he realized what he was doing, Pit whipped around and lashed out at the tom, sending him reeling backwards. For a minute, Swiftwind stood crouched down where he was, his eyes wide with shock as he gazed at Pit. There were two long scratches on his cheek, both of which were bleeding.

"Wh-why...What was that for?"

The tom sounded almost frightened.

Pit guiltily looked down at the ground and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Sorry...I wasn't thinking when I did that. I didn't mean to hurt you."

"It's not that bad," Swiftwind replied, although the blood from the scratches was starting to trickle down his face.

"Well, anyway, I just would like it if you didn't talk about my feelings toward Millie. I'm already struggling with it, and it doesn't help with you constantly bringing it up."

"Okay. I just want to say one thing to you, and then I'll stop."

"What is it?"

"There's a reason why I keep telling you to talk to Millie about your feelings. And that's because she likes you too."

Pit did not see that one coming at all.

"How do you know?"

"Why else would she be so generous to you, and be so willing to try and make you happy, by doing all these nice things for you? First, she brings you fresh-kill, then she makes that pin for you, and now she's taking care of your injuries. She's never done that with anyone before. Sure, she's done nice favors for others, but what she's doing for you goes way beyond that. What other reason could there be for her being so compassionate to you other than her liking you?"

Swiftwind did have a point. Millie was really generous to him. He remembered how Millie had brought him fresh-kill before he started his visit with the tribe, and that she was almost always waiting for him by the crooked oak trees. As he thought about it now, he realized it did seem off how she was so willing to do things for him if it made him happy.

"Anyway, that's why I keep urging you to tell Millie how you feel, because she likes you too, and will more than likely accept you as a mate. All you need to do is tell her."

The tom went to the medicine den to have Whitefeather look at the scratches on his cheek.

Swiftwind's argument that Millie liked him just as he did made him start to see their bond in a whole different light. When he first met Millie, he thought her generosity was part of her personality. And it probably was, to an extent. But thinking about how she treated him now, it was a bit excessive for a friendship, even a very close one. What's more, it seemed like she was spending more of her time with him than with friends that she'd had longer than him.

A sudden shadow cast over him made him look up, and he saw Millie enter the den, dripping wet. Her entire underside, and her arms and legs were caked with thick mud. She had mud all over her face too.

"What's with all the mud?"

Millie looked down at herself.

"It was really muddy where we were hunting. I kept slipping and falling in the mud whenever I went to pounce."

"Oh."

"I was lucky to catch anything. All I was able to bring back was a pitiful-looking mouse."

She took off her tunic, and lay down in her nest. After a moment, she grabbed her bag of supplies.

"I forgot to give this to you. I would've given it to you sooner, but I was too busy with doing things for the tribe I didn't."

For a second, she turned so her back was to him, and she briefly rummaged through the bag. As she turned to face him, she held up his fibula brooch.

"I was able to attach the pin I'd made to your brooch."

She handed it to him so he could look at how she had attached the two. It was rather fascinating how she had done it, and so intricately.

Millie moved closer to him, and took off the other decorated pin that she'd made. In its place, she slipped on his fibula brooch. Thanks to how she had flattened the surface of the bird bone, the bone pin couldn't be seen, and it didn't look any different than it had before it broke.

"Thanks, Millie. Really, thanks a lot. I like how you did this."

"No problem."

Millie put away her bag, and started cleaning the mud off her arms.

"How's your shoulder?"

Pit glanced down at his bandaged shoulder. He flexed his arm.

"It still hurts to use it. Not as much as before, but still hurts."

"That's good, it means the bone is healing. You'll still want to stay in camp for a few days, until it doesn't hurt to simply move your arm."

"Okay."

As Millie resumed cleaning herself off, Pit looked around, and saw that he and Millie were alone in the den. He started to say something to her, when Liontail came in, combing clumps of debris out of his hair.

"This is why I don't like how long my hair is. Things get tangled in it easily. I'm surprised you don't have the same problem."

"My hair isn't coarse, like yours. It's easy to comb stuff out of mine because it's straight. Plus, your hair is thicker than mine."

"That's true."

He winced as he pulled on a knot in his hair.

"And that's why I'm called Liontail. Because my hair is like a lion's mane. It's just hard to maintain with it like it is."

"I bet so. Maybe you need to comb it out more often."

Pit only half-listened. He was kind of ticked off with the timing of Liontail's appearance. The tom went and sat down in his nest, where he continued combing out his hair.

"Hey Pit, you okay?"

Millie's question caught him by surprise.

"Huh? Y-Yeah. I'm...I'm fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Nothing's wrong."

Millie didn't really believe him, but she said nothing more.

"Hey Millie, Cedarstar wants you to help gather new bedding."

Adderstripe's voice made her look up, and she headed outside to where the red-haired female was waiting by the camp entrance, along with Darkpool and Daisyleaf. Pit rested his head down as he watched Millie leave, feeling frustrated and set back.

* * *

Many times throughout his life, Pit had felt, and been, lost. He'd been lost when his mother died. He'd felt lost when he was captured. He'd felt lost trying to push aside his past emotions. But never had he felt more lost than this.

He'd tried many times to tell Millie about he felt, but she was hardly around in camp now, outside of sharing tongues in the evening, and coming back from doing something. It was hard to find the chance to talk to her, and every opportunity he got, either someone else was around, or she was acting like a tribe healer, and telling him to rest. He had no idea how many days go by like this, but he didn't like it.

It didn't help that he still had to stay in camp most of the time. He could go on short walks around the territory now, but he wasn't allowed to hunt, as that put strain on his injured shoulder. For Pit, he was just grateful to be able to go outside, and be away from everyone for a while, as it gave him time to think.

 _Coo coo, coo._ The soft cooing of a dove snapped him out of his thoughts, and he looked up to see the bird perched in a beech tree, its dark eyes glittering. Its feathers were light silver in color, with a metallic sheen which became visible when the bird spread its wings to preen them. Pit spread out his own wings as he watched the bird, a feeling of loneliness and sorrow filling him.

After a moment, the dove stopped preening its wings, and gazed down at Pit, tilting its head in curiosity. Pit realized then that the bird's eyes weren't dark brown as he'd thought, but a brilliant blue, taken up mostly by the bird's pupil, so they looked dark brown from a distance. It reminded him a lot of his mother, Dovepool.

He stood there for a long time, just gazing at the dove, which did the same, sitting on the tree branch looking down at him. The rustling of foliage alarmed the bird, and it quickly took off into the trees, just as Millie came charging along the branch. Her eyes glittered with frustration as she watched the bird vanish.

"Darn it! I thought I had that one."

"Hey, Millie."

"Hm?" She looked around, slightly confused, then noticed Pit. "Oh, it's you. I assume you're just out for a little walk."

"Yep, I am. What about you? Hunting?"

"Yeah, and so far, I've only managed to catch a chaffinch. I tried going after a magpie earlier, but it got away."

"You seem to have a preference for hunting birds. Is there a reason for that?"

Millie just shrugged.

"I don't know. I don't think I do. But then I don't really pay attention. Prey is prey to me."

She jumped down out of the tree, and started tagging alongside Pit.

"I've been out hunting for a while. I could use a break."

Pit didn't know what to think, but said nothing.

The two were silent for a long while. The rain had let up a bit, and it was only just lightly drizzling. Finally, Millie broke the silence.

"Hey Pit, who's Keto?"

"Huh?"

"Keto. I uh...I heard you mumble that name while you were napping."

At first, Pit didn't know whether to be embarrassed or amused, but as his memories of the angel started running through his head, he found himself being more morose than anything.

"Keto...was a close friend. He was one of the other angels living in Skyworld. Other than my mentor, Chiron, Keto was the only true friend I had. The others, I may have formed a small relationship with them, but I was never as close to them as I was to Keto. We practically viewed each other more as brothers than friends."

Pit reached down into the front of his chiton, and pulled out Keto's necklace.

"He...died. A long time ago, when Medusa launched an attack on Skyworld. He was fatally wounded, and he bled to death right at my feet. He was only ten years old when he died."

"Couldn't you have done something to help him?"

Pit shook his head.

"No. I was eight when it happened, so I was too taken by horror to do anything immediately, and by the time I was able to bring myself to do anything, he was beyond help. There was nothing that could've been done to save him. And as much I wish he were still around, I realize...if it weren't for him, I...I wouldn't be here."

"Oh. Is that necklace his?"

Millie gestured to the necklace Pit was holding. He looked at it.

"Yes, it was. He told me it was given to him when he was little. And then when I returned to Skyworld a year after he died, my mentor, Chiron, retrieved it from Keto's body, and gave it to me."

"It looks a lot like some of the necklaces Watertribe warriors wear. Wonder where he got it."

"Who knows..."

The two were silent again. After a few moments, Pit realized that he was in a good position to try telling Millie how he felt.

"Hey, Millie...?"

"Yeah?"

"Have you...have you ever tried to tell someone something...but didn't really know how to say it?"

"Yes, actually I–"

"because I've been–"

"Oh, I'm sorry! I just ran right over you there."

Pit nervously looked off to the side, and rubbed the back of his neck.

"No...no. Go ahead."

"Okay, well I was just going to say that I'm going to the moonstone tonight, along with Whitefeather."

"The moonstone?"

That sounded familiar. Sparrow's Song had mentioned something like that. He'd described it as a huge, sparkling stone underground that shone with moonlight at night, hence its name.

"Yep, the moonstone. Have you ever heard of it?"

"Yes. Sparrow's Song told me once about it. He said it was this huge, sparkling stone in a cavern underground where people can communicate with Startribe."

Millie nodded.

"That's it. I'm going there tonight, along with Whitefeather. It's half-moon, and it's a custom that tribe healers travel to the moonstone at half-moon, to speak with Startribe. It is there that healer apprentices earn their full names. I'm not a tribe healer, yes, but it was decided the other day that if something were to happen to Whitefeather, and she doesn't have an apprentice, I'll temporarily take her place, until someone else comes along that can officially succeed her. That's why I'm going."

"Oh."

"I probably won't be back until dawn. You'll most likely be asleep then."

* * *

The sky had turned violet-red with the setting sun when the two returned to camp. Whitefeather was standing at the foot of the Highrock, seemingly waiting for Millie. Upon seeing the old tribe healer, Millie broke off from Pit, and went to talk with her. Pit headed to the warrior's den, and was about to go in when Thistleheart came out. He glared at Pit as he shouldered his way past, his aqua green eyes glittering with hatred.

Pit watched over his shoulder in confusion as the tom headed to the camp entrance. Thistleheart had never liked him right from the start, and seemed form a deep hatred towards him when he started developing a close relationship with Millie. It was like Thistleheart didn't want him around Millie at all, and he couldn't think why. He'd never done anything that would give the tom a reason to hate him. But after a while, he shrugged it off, and entered the den.

Adderstripe was there, eating a magpie. She looked up the moment he came in.

"Hey, Pit."

"Hi. I just got back from taking a little walk."

I figured. You've been making use of that privilege a lot."

"I've been stuck in camp for the last few moons. It's hard to cope with being confined for so long."

"I know. I had to stay in camp when I had three of my teeth knocked out. And great Startribe, that was tough."

" I bet so."

Pit rearranged his bedding into a nest, and sat down in it, where he started shaking out all the water in his wings. He started taking off his chiton when a soft _thump_ startled him. Millie stood before him, with a dead squirrel at her feet.

"I thought I get you something to eat before I left. See you later, Pit."

She left the den, and disappeared out of the camp, tagging behind Whitefeather.

Moments later, Thistleheart peeked into the den. He just glared at Pit, and bared his teeth in a small snarl before leaving again.

"That was...odd," Adderstripe remarked.

"I know, it's weird. It's like he hates me or something, when I've never given him a reason to. He's never liked me, and I don't know why."

"Thistleheart's not the friendliest person you could ever meet. But I've never seen him do that."

"What's really weird about it is he began to really not like me when I started forming a relationship with Millie. It's like he doesn't want me around her."

"Well, you are the first person who's ever tried to forming a relationship with her."

"But why would he hate me for that? I don't know, it's just strange."

Pit spent the rest of the evening in silence. But he couldn't take his mind off of Thistleheart. He got the feeling the tom wanted to hurt him somehow and the thought sent chills up his spine. As night fell, warriors began filing into the den to sleep. Pit curled up in his own nest and closed his eyes, but found himself too troubled by the thought of Thistleheart to sleep. After several moments, he got up and left the camp to go on a little night walk.

There were no clouds in the sky now, and it was clear as could be. A moon with only one side shining hovered at the peak of its course across the sky, bathing the land in silver light. At this point, Millie was probably underground in a cavern now, lying asleep beside a huge shining stone, speaking with Startribe in her dreams.

That thought suddenly made him realize how tired he was, and he looked for someplace to sleep. A part of him thought to go back to camp, but when the thought of Thistleheart came back, he decided against it. He eventually chose to sleep at Fourtrees.

At the base of one of the great oaks, he gathered a bunch of leaves and moss, and clumped it up into a nest. He turned around twice, then laid down on his side, and curled up, the soothing tune of a nightingale lulling him to sleep.

He hadn't slept for very long when the rustling of grass woke him up. He peeked around the Great Rock, and saw Millie and Whitefeather heading his way. He sat up and quickly scattered the bedding, before he showed himself. Millie was rather surprised.

"You know, you didn't have to wait for me."

"I-I wasn't. I just...I was having a hard time falling asleep, so I decided to take a little night walk."

"I see. Care if I join you?" She turned to Whitefeather. "I won't be out long."

Whitefeather nodded, and headed to the camp.

"You know, I never really noticed how pretty the forest was at night."

Pit looked around, and realized she was right. The light of the moon gave everything a silver tint, shadows a hint of blue. Dew drops glittered on the wet foliage like frost. Fireflies darted through the trees, their starry abdomens twinkling as they flew.

"Yeah, it really is pretty."

"I used to love chasing fireflies when I was little. It's funny how their back ends glow."

"Oh...I've never actually seen fireflies before until now."

"I see. Well, should we head back to camp?"

"Actually, there's something I need to tell you first."

Millie stopped and looked directly at him. She could tell this was something serious.

For a moment, Pit looked down, unsure of himself, but then he found himself knowing what to do.

"I've been trying to think of how...and when...to say this...for days now."

He looked up at her.

"It never did occur to me...but I wouldn't be where I am without you. Up until I met you, I'd forgotten that I was born here, in the forest. I'd forgotten who I really was. You helped me remember that I'm a forest warrior at heart, and that this is where my roots lie.

I know I've already formed a friendship with you, Millie, but I wanted you to really know how I feel...and I hope you feel the same way. Millie...I want you to stand by my side...as my mate."

Millie just smiled.

"Pit...to be with you...that's what I've wanted since I first laid eyes on you."

She affectionately nuzzled her head up under his chin. Pit put his arm around her, and nuzzled her back, rubbing against her cheek.

The two stood there for a long time, their hands joined, nuzzling each other. A nightingale duet perched in a nearby oak tree started to whistle a heartwarming tune, serenading the love in the air.

After a while, Millie broke away from him, still holding his hand.

"We need to go back. It's almost dawn, and the tribe will be wondering where I am."

Pit just nodded, and rested his arm on her shoulder as they headed back to camp.

Luckily, the tribe had only just begun to stir, and thus there weren't too many people out when they entered the camp. Taking care not to awaken anyone, they slipped into the warrior's den, and went to their nests, where they continued to embrace in each other's feelings.

"Millie..."

Swiftwind calling Millie's name alarmed both of them, but before they could do anything, the black-and-white haired tom came into the den. He was shocked when he saw the two.

"Swiftwind..."

Millie looked at Pit and briefly nuzzled him, before she got up and went over to the tom, who headed outside.

Pit watched Millie leave, then laid down in his nest, his heart beating with a feeling of affection and accomplishment.


	37. A New Generation

_Note: I had some confusion over this in the first chapter, and I'll clarify now; "kit" in the context of this story does not refer to a baby cat. Nor does it specifically refer to a baby. It is just simply another term for progeny. I use it because it is a simple term that can be applied to a wide range of ages, and it dictates living in the wild. Here's a way to remember this: "kit" sounds like "kid"._

* * *

"It's time I go. I've been gone for almost five moons now, and Lady Palutena is probably wondering what has become of me."

"You'll come back though, won't you?"

"Of course I will. Now that Lady Palutena knows about the forest, I should be able to come here whenever I want. And if you ever need me, just come to the edge of the forest here, and look up at the sky. I can see the forest from Skyworld, so I'll know if you're there."

"I'm going to miss you, Pit. But I know you'll come visit sometime soon."

"I'm going to miss you too."

He nuzzled her cheek. She nuzzled him back, then let go of his hand as he stepped out into the clearing and spread his wings.

"Pit, wait! Aren't you going to tell the tribe who you are?"

Pit looked back as his sister approached him.

"No. It's better they didn't know. I have a life in Skyworld with Lady Palutena. I belong there, and telling the tribe I was born as one of them gives me the feeling that I'm obliged to stay here with the tribe, when my loyalties lie with Palutena. But I'll never forget that I came from the forest, and I'll be sure to come back."

Adderstripe nodded at him, and stepped back as he spread his wings again, and looked straight up at the sky.

"Lady Palutena...!"

Moments later, his wings flashed bright blue, and he began to ascend into the air. Pretty soon, all that could be seen was a bright, twinkling light in the sky, like a lone star. As the light vanished into the clouds, something white fluttered down out of the sky, and landed in the grass in front of them. Millie picked it up, surprised by what it was. A long, white feather.

Millie gazed at the feather for a moment, and smiled, then put the feather in her bag as she followed Adderstripe back to camp.

It had been almost a moon since that night when Pit and Millie had become mates, and for Millie, it had been one of the most happiest times she'd ever had. Quite often, the two had hung out at night, sneaking off to Fourtrees, or the crooked oak tree, and hanging out there. A couple of times, they'd spent the night away from the tribe. It hurt her slightly to see him go, and return to his own realm, but she knew that he was watching over the forest from his home in Skyworld, and that he would come back someday.

"I'm sure he'll be thinking of you while he's up there."

"I bet he will. I'll be thinking very much of him."

* * *

Things were surprisingly dull after Pit left. Nothing had really changed, it just seemed to Millie that it had been a lot more lively when he was with them. It was as though the angel had brought new life into the tribe with his temporary stay, much like a newborn kit did. But perhaps that was the reason life seemed so uninteresting now; there weren't very many kits in the tribe.

There had been five kits in the nursery when Pit came to the forest. But since then, two of them have died and one became an apprentice. The only two left were Mosstail's youngest kit, Brightkit, and the remaining one of Heatherfur's twin kits, Dustkit.

"Until you and Thistleheart were brought here, I was the only kit in the nursery."

Adderstripe came up behind Millie, who was watching the two kits play out in the camp. Millie looked back at the sound of her voice.

"Really? I don't remember that."

"Yep, I was. The only other kits besides me were Pikekit and Thornkit. Then Dovepool ran off with Pikekit, and Thornkit joined Watertribe. So I was the only one when you came."

"Oh..."

Millie returned to watching the kits for a minute.

"It seems like we've been having fewer kits every year."

"I know, and that's not a good thing. We need a good number of kits, to maintain the tribe's numbers. But a lot of warriors here have no wish to have kits, of those who can, and that's the problem."

Adderstripe was silent for a moment. She started to say something, when Thistleheart came up and pulled Millie aside. Adderstripe went to the warrior's den.

"Millie, I need to ask you of something."

"What is it?"

"Tigerpaw's been pestering me about being taught how to pounce the way you and Cedarstar do when you hunt. He said he wanted to try using it as a battle move. You'd have to teach him, because I can't hunt that way, but since you're not his mentor, I was wondering if you'd be willing to do a joint mentorship with me. You'd teach him how to pounce the way you do, for the first half of the session, and then I'd do the rest."

"Sure. I know he asked me if I could teach him that hunting technique when I was taking your place, and I said I would."

"Thanks, Millie. I need the help. And I bet Tigerpaw's going to be looking forward to his next training session."

* * *

Millie woke up feeling really nauseous and sick to her stomach, like she'd eaten something she shouldn't have. She started to go back to sleep, when someone started jostling her.

"Millie, come on, wake up. You said you were going to help me with training Tigerpaw."

At first, Millie just groaned, not feeling up to it, but when her nausea started to fade, she yawned and opened her eyes.

"...mhm...Alright...I'm coming..."

As she got up and stretched her stiff limbs, she suddenly got a rush of dizziness that made her feel sick again. She tried to get it to go away, but then her stomach convulsed, and moments later she vomited. Her belly hurt afterward, but at least her nausea went away.

Outside, Thistleheart and Tigerpaw were waiting by the camp entrance. As soon as Millie approached them, they headed out into the forest.

"Are you teaching me how to pounce like you do?"

Tigerpaw fell in next to Millie, who looked down at the apprentice.

"Yes, for the first half of the session. I told you I would."

"Yay!"

He jumped up, clapping excitedly.

As the three of them entered the training meadow, Thistleheart went off to the side, and sat down on a rock beneath a young cedar tree. Millie and Tigerpaw went into the middle of the meadow.

"Now, this may sound counterintuitive, but there really isn't a major difference between how I pounce when I hunt and how you would when you hunt. All you're doing really when you're pouncing like me is instead of using both your arms and legs to push off, you're using mostly just your legs, and to some extent, the muscles in your stomach."

"So basically, I'd be using just my legs to pounce, not my arms and my legs."

"Right, exactly. The difference is hard to notice, but by using just your legs, you don't create as much disturbance on the forest floor, and thus you have a higher chance of being able to catch your target off-guard. How about you give it a try?"

"Okay."

The apprentice looked around for a second, before noticing a cardinal perched on a burnt stump. He crouched down and crept up on the bird. A few feet away, he pounced, raising up a bit so he wasn't inclined to push his hands down to push off. However, he was surprised when he didn't go as far as he expected, and he hit his head on the base of the stump, causing the bird to fly away.

Tigerpaw lay there for a moment before getting to his feet, half-stunned from the collision. He shook his head to clear it, then headed back over to Millie.

"You okay?"

"Yeah. I didn't expect to only go a short distance, that's all."

"The move is more meant for traveling up, instead of across. That's why I pounce that way when I hunt. I can easily get to my prey's neck by coming down on it."

"Oh, okay. So you need to get close to your target, then?"

"Yep. Try it on me."

Millie went off into the brush, and turned around so her back was to him. The apprentice silently slunk through the shrubbery until he was directly behind her. Focusing his energy into his legs, he pounced, and easily latched onto her shoulders. She quickly rolled over, making him get off of her.

"Not bad. I heard you coming, and I knew you pounced from directly behind me, but you managed to get on me. Try again."

The two continued to train until sunhigh, at which point she switched places with Thistleheart. She watched them for a little while, before she decided to head back to camp.

The camp was almost empty, with the exception of the queens and elders, Cedarstar, and a few others. Not surprising, since it was almost leaf-bare, and this was a time when it was crucial for the tribe to stock up on supplies.

Millie silently slunk into the warrior's den and lay down in her nest, where she started grooming herself. As she turned over onto her side to get at her shoulders, she was surprised to find that she had to almost sit up in order to get on her side, as her underbelly kept her from just simply rolling over onto her side, like it had swollen a bit. Confused, she sat up and rather awkwardly continued grooming herself, unaware that Whitefeather was gazing at her, with a look of joy and anticipation.

* * *

A thin layer of fog hung in the air as Millie followed Liontail, Swiftwind, and Darkpool to go hunt. Fresh snow covered the ground, numbing the bottoms of her feet, but her head was so fuzzy with tiredness that she hardly noticed it. She was grateful Thistleheart hadn't asked her to help him with Tigerpaw; the last couple of times had been rough, and she didn't think she could manage to concentrate well enough to be of any help.

Millie yawned and shook her head to clear it as the group split up. The calling of a jay made her ears twitch, and she saw the bird perched on a leafless shrub. She crouched down and slowly stalked the bird, which just sat there, roosting. She was about to pounce when her underbelly rustled a bunch of leaves. The bird suddenly looked in her direction, called in alarm, and took off. Millie got to her feet and watched the bird fly away, before she set out to find another thing to hunt. But as she walked through the forest, drowsiness started to get the better of her, and it became harder and harder for her to focus. After a while, it got to the point she almost couldn't keep herself awake, and went to go find Darkpool.

The dark-skinned female was waiting by the Great Sycamore, with two cardinals. She looked up when Millie approached her.

"You okay?"

Millie propped herself up against the Great Sycamore. She felt weighed down by her lack of energy.

"Yeah...I'm just...really tired..."

"You have been for the last several days."

She paused for a moment.

"If you want to go back to camp, you can. I'm sure Cedarstar will understand."

Millie just nodded a bit and headed back to the camp. She ignored the few warriors still in camp that looked at her as she walked by, and went straight into the warrior's den. She curled up in her nest, and closed her eyes, as she started to doze off.

"I'm not surprised you came back so soon."

Daisyleaf's comment jolted her awake.

"Why?"

"Have you told Cedarstar yet?"

Millie sat up a bit and tilted her head in utter confusion.

"Told him what?"

Daisyleaf blinked at her. "That you're expecting kits."

 _Expecting kits?_

 _I can't be!_ Millie just stared at her denmate in complete shock. Daisyleaf put her hand on Millie's shoulder.

"Don't worry about being nervous. It's natural the first time."

Adderstripe came over to them.

"Millie, you're having kits? Why didn't you tell me? Does Pit know about this?"

Millie opened her mouth to speak, but quickly shut it. It was almost too much for her brain to even give the slightest thought to her mate. After a moment, Adderstripe took her silence as an answer.

"It's okay if you don't know. I'm just so pleased to hear about this. I thought there was something going on between you and Pit. He'll make a brilliant father."

"Adderstripe...I-I didn't plan on this to happen...Pit and I are just mates...I had no intent on going as far as starting a family, okay? Please just...leave this to me."

"I see, you want to tell him yourself. But you're going to have to say something soon. You're getting awfully big. Even the toms will starting noticing it soon."

As the two settled into their nests, Millie glanced down at her belly, and realized it really had swollen, a lot more than she'd taken note of a few days ago. She was getting awfully big. Staring into the dark emptiness of the corner of the den, she suddenly knew what she needed to do.

She heaved herself up, suddenly aware of the extra weight she was carrying in her belly, and headed out into the forest. How did she not notice that before? She quickly pushed aside that thought, and went to the clearing where she'd last spoken with her mate. With a distant look in her eyes, she averted her gaze to the sky.

It didn't take long before she saw a glittering light headed towards her, eventually becoming close enough she could make out his figure against the bright glow of his wings. As he closed the distance, the glow on his wings went from blue to gold, then to a dull red as he came to an almost complete stop, and landed.

"Pit," She couldn't wait for an acknowledgement from him that he was listening. "I need to explain something to you. This might sound hard to believe, but...Pit, I'm expecting kits."

To her surprise, Pit didn't look too shocked by this bit of news, however, his eyes widened as he took notice of her swollen belly.

"I'm surprised you didn't inform me earlier."

"I didn't know I was pregnant until Daisyleaf pointed it out to me just moments ago. Pit...I never anticipated on having kits...and to be honest, I don't know what to do, or what to think...it's complicated..."

Millie looked down at the ground, overwhelmed and unsure of herself.

Pit put his arm around her, resting his hand on her shoulder.

"If you want me to, I'll stay in the tribe and help you. I'll do anything for you, and our kits."

For a heartbeat, she wanted to ask him of that, but she decided against it. He had a life in Skyworld, where he was raised. It would be like trying to live in two different places at once, and she didn't want to put that kind of stress on him.

"I'm grateful for your willingness to help me Pit, but...I don't need your help. I'm going to raise them as pure forest warriors."

"What about me? I'm sure the tribe knows I'm the father."

"And they do. It's just...I'm already stressed out by the amount of attention and pressure I've gotten. And I feel like with you there...I couldn't handle it. They'll understand."

"I see..." He turned and spread his wings, but then looked back. "I just hope you know what you're doing. And whatever happens, they'll always be my kits, too."

* * *

Mosstail pulled Brightkit out of the way as Millie went into the nursery and lay down. She winced as she flopped onto her side, the weight of her belly putting a lot of stress on her back.

"How come your belly is so big?" Dustkit came up and put her little hand on Millie's belly. "Mama's wasn't that big when she had Rainkit."

"Queens can have multiple kits at one time. Their bellies have expand more to make room for more than one kit."

"Oh."

Millie glanced at her belly as she felt movement inside her. Dustkit's eyes went wide, and she took her hand away, surprised.

"Wow, I can feel the kits moving around in there."

"Even before they're born, kits are full of life. I guess that's what makes having them so rewarding."

Heatherfur entered the nursery, and made Dustkit get in her nest, where she had a mouse to give to the kit. She averted her gaze to Millie, with a surprised look.

"I'm surprised your mate isn't here helping you. Does he know you're having kits?"

"Yes, it's just..."

Millie hesitated. She'd never told anyone she wanted to raise her kits alone, not wanting to put that kind of stress on Pit. It seemed silly thinking about it now, but she'd made up her mind for so long that she saw no value in changing her decision. She tried to think of a good excuse for it, but then Heatherfur took her silence as an answer.

"I understand if there's something going on that's preventing him from being here with you. But you might want to ask him if he can be around part of the time. It's silly for them not to really know their father when they can so easily see him."

Heatherfur returned her gaze to Dustkit, who'd already scarfed down part of the mouse. As Millie curled up in her nest, she noticed Thistleheart looking at her as he shared tongues with Swiftwind and Hawktail. He gave her a sharp glare that bore into her like a shard of ice, making her really uncomfortable.

As the tom resumed eating, Millie couldn't help but suddenly feel afraid of him. Which was odd, because she'd never been afraid of him, even when he acted like this. He wasn't too fond of unfamiliar people, and he tended to be rather cold around others he didn't recognize. Thus, she hadn't thought twice about it when Pit was around, because Pit was a stranger to him. But this was different. He'd known Millie longer than anyone in the tribe. Yet, he wasn't behaving like it, and was almost scaring her. She suddenly felt her kits start to fidget, as though they'd sensed her fear.

It's okay, she whispered, as she put her hands firmly on her belly. The kits stopped fidgeting, and calmed down.

But in the very back of her mind, she somehow just knew that wasn't true.

* * *

"Are they coming yet?" Heatherfur called from her nest. She firmly held Dustkit in her arms, who was squirming around, wanting to watch. Brightkit had dozed off in her nest, tired of waiting for her new denmates to arrive.

Sunlight faintly filtered through the briars that formed the top of the nursery, deadened mostly by the thick layer of snow weighing it down. Inside, it was warm from the breath of several warriors crowded in one place.

"It won't be long," Whitefeather murmured, concentrating hard as Millie shuddered with another contraction. Mosstail stood nearby, prepared to receive the kits when they came out. Having given birth to three separate kits, and then watching Heatherfur give birth to her two kits, she knew what to do.

Mosstail gently put her hand on Millie's belly, where she could feel the muscles working to push the kits out. She quickly pulled her hand back when Millie unexpectedly cried out, seized by another contraction. As it faded, she looked over at the queen, who seemed kind of startled.

"Sorry," she muttered. "I just didn't expect it to hurt this much."

"Having kits is not easy, I know. But you'll scare the tribe crying out like that."

Another pain rippled through her, and she bit her lip in an effort to refrain from crying out. Moments after the pain went away, she suddenly felt her ears twitch at the high-pitched cries of a newborn kit.

Mosstail was holding the kit, cleaning its face. Whitefeather took a small knife and cut the cord attached to its belly.

"It's a tom," Whitefeather noted, as she laid the kit on Millie's belly.

He felt warm and damp against her skin. She gently stroked his soft hair, which was almost the same rich brown color as Pit's, albeit a slight bit darker. It filled her with simple joy to hold the little newborn, and to think he was her own.

"He's beautiful," she whispered.

Another pain rippled through her.

"A she-kit," Mosstail announced, as she placed another kit by Millie's side. "One more."

Millie grunted as another pain came, then relaxed, breathless, as the kit's cries filled the air. Mosstail put the kit beside the other one.

"Another she-kit. All three are healthy and strong."

Millie turned over onto her side so she could examine each of her kits. The tom fidgeted a bit as she moved him in the process, but quickly resettled when she placed him up next to her belly.

All three kits had inherited their father's tan skin, although one of the she-kits was a bit darker. That one had the same red and ginger hair that Adderstripe had, except with extra streaks of brown that must've been inherited from Thistleheart.

Adderstripe and Darkfang came into the nursery.

"It's almost like looking into the past," Darkfang remarked. "The tom looks just like Pikekit."

 _If only you knew,_ Millie thought, as she stroked the kit. But she said nothing about it, knowing Pit had wanted to keep his past unknown to them.

"What are their names?"

Adderstripe softly nudged one of the kits.

Millie glanced at the little ones, in thought. She stroked their heads as she announced their names.

"The tom is Pikekit, and the darker she-kit is Mintkit." She wanted to give them names that reminded her of their heritage.

Mosstail gestured to the third kit.

"What about this one?"

Millie gazed at the kit for a moment. She realized then that the kit had the same black-and-russet dappled hair that her mother, Leaf, had.

"Leafkit," she decided.

"I bet Pit would be very proud as a father to have such beautiful kits."

As the others left to give Millie some time alone with her little ones, both the tom and the darker she-kit twitched and fidgeted as they opened their eyes. They both looked up at Millie, in a mix of curiosity and fascination.

The tom's eyes were a very light, almost icy, blue. Millie guessed that they'd eventually change to become the same blue as her eyes, if not lighter. The she-kit's eyes were light gray, but had a slight bluish tint to them, indicating that they would change to be either blue-gray or aqua.

The other she-kit opened her eyes a moment later, aroused by the tiny noises the other two had made. Her eyes were pale, light brown, and would most likely end up being amber-colored, like Adderstripe's.

Millie stroked each one again, then curled up a bit as she dozed off, greatly comforted by the feeling of their little bodies curled up beside her.

* * *

"Ready or not, here I come!"

The brown-haired kit kept as still as he could, crouched down beneath a clump of ferns that grew along the side of an old tree stump. He felt nervousness crawl up his spine when he heard footsteps, but let out a tiny sigh when he saw it was just Tigerpaw walking by.

Suddenly, he felt weight come down on him knocking the wind out of him. The tom yelped in surprise, then flipped over, to find it was his sister, Mintkit.

"Found you!"

"That's not how you play this game!"

And he pounced on her. The two tumbled over a couple of times before Mintkit pinned him down. Moments later, Leafkit jumped and latched onto Mintkit's shoulders, causing the kit to fall over backwards, at the same time Pikekit got up and batted at both of them.

Millie watched in amusement as the three kits started play-fighting. That seemed to be how they most liked to play, as well as pretend to be warriors from different tribes, and that they were in a battle.

Not once had the kits asked about their father, although Pikekit had once questioned her about his name. Millie simply told him what Darkfang had told her, even though it was a bit of a lie. But he just took her word for it, and never brought it up again.

A faint snarl made Millie look up, and she saw Thistleheart walking by. Again he gazed at her coldly as he passed. But instead of shaking it off, she stood up, and followed him. She had to find out what his deal was.

The tom headed out into the forest. He stopped when they were past the Snakerocks.

"I know you're there, and I know why you're here."

He turned around.

"Look, it's not that I don't trust you. You're my kin, Millie. But what I don't like is how quick you are to trust people you don't know."

"What, you got a problem with me and Pit? He's proven hundreds of times to me and to the tribe he can be trusted! For what reason should I not?"

"How do you know he's not hiding something from you?"

"Does Pit seem like that kind of person? I don't think so."

"Then explain how you got pregnant without knowing it."

That made Millie pause for a minute. The tom was right, Pit would've said something to her beforehand. Except...

"I never planned on having kits, and neither had Pit. He was surprised too when I told him I was expecting."

"I see...but Millie, I don't like the fact you were so quick to trust him, and form a relationship with him. I see it as being disloyal."

"Hey! I know what I'm doing, Thistleheart. I can make my own decisions! And believe it or not, Pit's a forest warrior too. He was born in Suntribe."

Millie internally winced at that last statement, but luckily, Thistleheart didn't take her seriously.

"Ha! Like I'm going to believe that! There's no way an angel could have ever been a forest warrior."

He turned to walk away, but then looked back at her.

"Those kits of yours are nothing but half-bloods that deserve to be scorned to me. I would kill them or get rid of them myself, but it is not a matter I can personally take into my own hands. I'd get in trouble for doing that. You just better watch out, or you may wake up one day to find your little ones turned to crowfood."

The tom walked off, leaving Millie to reflect on everything he'd told her.

A large part of her was unsure whether or not to take his threats seriously. His reason for wanting to get rid of her kits was completely irrational, but not to him, apparently. When she got back to camp, the sky had already turned red with the setting sun.

"Mama, where have you been?"

Millie looked down as Leafkit came up to her.

"I was...just out talking with Thistleheart."

"Oh, okay."

As Leafkit scampered back to the nursery, Millie stood there and thought for a moment. She hastily pushed aside her thoughts at the sound of her kits whining for food, and she quickly grabbed a vole for them to eat, as well as a robin for herself. The kits quickly quieted down when she set down the piece of fresh-kill.

All that evening, she reflected on what Thistleheart had told her, and it was starting to become quite clear to her what Thistleheart was planning to do.

 _He'll find a way to get someone, or something, to take care of them. He knows me well enough that he's capable of outsmarting me._

She glanced at the kits.

 _I can't let that happen. You three could end up seriously hurt, or even killed. I could too. I'm not to going to let my little ones meet that kind of fate..._

"Millie, are you okay? You seem kind of frightened."

Millie looked up to see Mosstail.

"Y-Yeah...I'm fine..."

Mosstail gave her a weird look for a minute, then shrugged and returned to her nest.

As the kits finished eating, Millie sprawled out on her side so her kits could curl up next to her belly. They fidgeted and made little noises before settling as they fell asleep. Millie started to doze off as well, when it suddenly occurred to her.

 _This is how Dovepool must've felt when she was raising Pikekit...and this is why she ran away..._

* * *

The days go by, and Millie found herself becoming more and more restless and uncomfortable. As much as she tried to convince herself that Thistleheart was just threatening her and didn't have the heart to do something like that, a small part of her instinctively knew that he did, and the passing of time only made her more and more fearful of when he would lash out.

"Mama? Why are you always trying to keep us inside?"

Pikekit's voice made her look down. The kit's bright blue eyes gleamed with curiosity.

For a long moment, Millie hesitated and thought. She tried to think of how to explain to the kit that she was trying to protect them.

"It's...I'm trying to keep you little ones safe. It's complicated, okay? I couldn't really explain to you."

"Oh, okay...also, why does Thistleheart not like us?"

Millie was caught off-guard with that question.

"How can you tell?"

"While you were gone yesterday, we were playing, and he came up and hit me for no reason."

Mintkit came up to them. She brushed aside her red and ginger hair to reveal that her right ear had been cleanly split in half. There was also a long scratch on her cheek.

"Is it because we have a loner for a father?"

Millie didn't hesitate to nod at the kit. There was no use trying to hide it when they'd already guessed correctly.

"Yes, it is. I don't understand his reason for it, because it is completely irrational, but yes, it is because your father, Pit, is a loner."

She paused for a moment.

"However, I will tell you that he is not actually a loner, at least not purely."

She glanced at Pikekit.

"Remember that story I told you when you asked about your name?"

"Yeah. That I was named after a kit that was born in Suntribe many years ago who died after his mom ran away with him."

"Yes. And I'm going to tell you that the last part of that story is not entirely true. He didn't die. This might be hard to believe, but you were named after your father."

The kit's eyes went wide.

"You mean Pit was Pikekit?"

Millie nodded once.

"He was found and raised by a goddess named Palutena, who he now serves as the captain of her army. About a year before you were born, he told me that had Palutena not have found him, he would've died."

"Wow...but then how come his name is Pit, if he was born here?"

"He told me it was because Palutena did not know that Pikekit was his given name, and she chose to call him Pit, because of his dark blue eyes that at night are like pits of water reflecting the light of the stars. But had he grown up here in the forest, he told me that his warrior name would've been Piketooth."

"Oh."

Millie stroked the little tom.

"I named you after your father because you look so much like him."

"When can we see him?"

For a long moment, she hesitated, trying to think of how to answer the kit, when a loud scream made her jump. Before she could do anything, she felt a huge weight come down on her from behind, sharp teeth meeting the back of her neck. She yelped at the sharp pain, then jabbed the lion's belly with her elbow before forcefully tearing free of its grasp. The huge feline went to attack again, but quickly backed down when she stood up and growled at it. Instead, it decided to go after her kits, who fearfully scattered as the cougar clawed and snapped its jaws at them.

Millie immediately jumped on the feline's back and started clawing madly at its shoulders, in an effort to drive its attention away from her kits. She only succeeded in being thrown halfway across the nursery, dazed and shattered. The cougar then returned its attention to her kits, quickly trapping them in a corner of the nursery, like mice.

"Mama, help us!" Mintkit cried out, as the lion tore open her arm with a huge swipe of its massive paws.

The huge cat screamed as Millie jumped on it again, biting its scruff, and gripping its neck. As the cougar wildly kicked and reared, trying to throw her off, she caught a glimpse of Thistleheart standing in the entrance of the nursery, just watching coldly as she tried to fend off the huge feline. She quickly took her focus away from him as she felt her lower half slip off the lion's back, so she was now under its chin, still clinging to its neck.

Millie grunted as she kept swinging around underneath the huge cat, her back and her head constantly hitting the ground. She glanced over at Thistleheart again, silently pleading for him to help her. But the tom did nothing but stand there and watch. He smiled a bit as Millie lost her grip, and the lion pinned her down, clawing furiously at her shoulders and her face, trying to get at her neck so it could deal its fatal bite.

Suddenly, the lion seemed distracted by something and got off of her. As the massive feline twisted around, Millie was shocked to see Pikekit clinging to the cat's face, his tiny nails burrowed into its forehead.

"You leave mama alone!" he growled, as he kicked the cougar's snout. The lion screamed again, then pried the kit off of its face with its huge paws, and threw him on the ground, pinning him down. Pikekit cried out in pain as the huge cat clawed up his belly and his arms before he was flung across the nursery, hitting the wall, and landing on his side not far from Thistleheart.

 _"Pikekit!"_

Millie raced over to the kit, and got down beside him. He softly whimpered as he feebly raised his head, his eyes glazed over with pain.

She barely had the chance to examine him when she heard Leafkit cry out, and saw the lion viciously attacking them. But just when she was about the run over and help them, Cedarstar ran in and jumped on the huge feline, scratching its face and kicking its sides. The cougar screamed as it ran out of the nursery, with the tom still clinging to its back. He let go of the feline as it clambered up the camp wall and bolted away into the forest, yowling and screaming.

"Thanks Cedarstar," Millie said, as the russet-haired tom came back into the nursery to check on Leafkit and Mintkit.

"No need to thank me," he replied, looking back at her. "After losing my mate and my kits to a cougar, I'm not about to let that happen again to anyone in my tribe."

Whitefeather came in to see what had gone on, and was shocked when she saw Pikekit lying crumbled on the ground, scratched up and bleeding heavily from his belly. She carefully picked him up and took him to the medicine den. Cedarstar followed her, carrying Mintkit and Leafkit. The tom glanced back at Millie, and gestured for her to come too.

Heatherfur tended to the three kits while Whitefeather took care of Millie. She wasn't that badly hurt, but she winced and bit her lip as the old tribe healer tended to the scratches on the side of her face.

Once she finished, Millie went in search of Thistleheart. She caught him just outside the camp.

"You set up that attack, didn't you? Why?"

Thistleheart just glared at her.

"You know why, Millie."

"Thistleheart...okay, I get it, you don't like the fact I chose Pit as a mate. But killing my kits is not going to help anything! They're not the source of the problem!"

"Argue with me all you want Millie, but you're not going to change my mind. Nor can you make me. I can choose how I feel about those kits, and your mate. Deal with it, or leave, if you can't!"

He walked off before Millie could respond.

 _I'm not leaving my tribe, that's for sure. But I'm not going to let you hurt my kits, not that you haven't already._

She felt internally torn apart by the conflict Thistleheart was creating for her by his disliking of her kits, and her partnership with Pit. All she'd wanted was to just raise her kits in peace. But she couldn't with Thistleheart trying to kill them. It was either she raised her kits elsewhere, or risked losing them to an ambush like what had happened moments ago. After a long while she finally came to a conclusion on what to do.

 _At least, unlike Dovepool, my mate is still around...I really don't want to do this...but I don't have a choice..._

Millie headed to the clearing, and looked up. Minutes later, Pit flew down out of the clouds, and fluttered his wings as he landed a few feet away.

"It sure has been a while since I last talked with you. I can see that our kits have been born. How are they?"

"They're fine." She wasn't about to worry him by telling hm what happened not too long ago. "A tom and two she-kits. I named them Pikekit, Mintkit, and Leafkit."

"You named the tom after me, right?"

"Yes, I did. He looks just like you."

"I wish I could see them."

"You can..."

She paused for a moment to gather her thoughts.

"I can't keep them."

The angel was utterly confused at that.

"What are you talking about?"

"As much as I wanted to raise our kits in the forest, I can't. I wish I could go with you, but I'm happier here, in my tribe. Besides, they need me more than they do my kits."

"Millie I have no idea what you're talking about. What are you trying to tell me?"

"I need you to do something for me, Pit. I need you to take my kits, and raise them in Skyworld."

Pit just stared at her for a long moment.

"Why? I can tell you care about them a lot, and that you've been a great mother to them. I don't get why all of a sudden you want me to take over that role when you've probably done a better job than I ever could."

Millie paused. For a second, she began to question whether or not she was making a good decision by doing this. But the thought of Thistleheart made her push away that doubt.

"I never intended for this to happen...but...you know Thistleheart, right?"

"Yeah. He was always acting cold around me."

"He's my half-brother. And he's not that fond of strangers."

"Okay, but what does this have to do with-"

"He's trying to kill my kits."

Pit's eyes went wide.

"What?!"

"I don't know what his deal is, but he doesn't like the fact I chose you as a mate, and so he's trying to get rid of my kits, as though they're the source of the problem. I don't know what makes him think killing them is going to help anything, but that's why I need you to take them, Pit. It's either I give them up to you, or risk losing them completely."

The angel thought for a moment, then gave her a look that almost seemed like a silent warning.

"You do realize just what might happen if you give them up to me. They may forget you're their mother, and forget they were born here, just like me. And what do you plan to tell your tribe? You might never get the chance to see them again."

Millie looked down, deep in thought. Would her kits really forget her that easily? It was true, she probably would never see them again, or at least, not for a long time. As for her tribe, she didn't know what to think as far as what to have them believe had happened to her kits, but it didn't matter at the moment. She didn't have a choice, if she wanted to keep her kits safe.

"I know what I'm doing, Pit. Please, I need you to do this. I'd rather they grew up without me than died early on. It's for their sake."

Pit hesitated for a moment, then nodded once at her.

"I understand. You're doing it for the same reason that my mother ran off with me. Bring them here whenever you're ready, and I'll take them. For you, and for them."


	38. Father's Footsteps

"Leafkit, come on. Wake up."

Millie gently prodded the kits, trying to silently wake them up. After almost a half-moon, she decided the time was right to take her kits to their father.

At the feeling of being poked in the ribs, Leafkit yawned and slowly raised her head.

"What...? Is it morning already...?"

"No. But keep your voice down. We don't want to wake up the tribe."

"Okay..."

The kit slowly got up, and shook her head to wake herself up. Pikekit and Mintkit were already awake.

"Come on, little ones. Let's go."

For some reason, it was a lot colder than it had been, even for early leaf-bare. A small wind blew as snowflakes thinly came down.

"Where are we going, mama?"

"I'm taking you to meet someone." She couldn't think of a good excuse. Not that it would really be worth trying to hide the truth.

"Who?"

"You'll find out."

Millie led them to the path leading to the dirtplace. It would be easier than trying to sneak out of the entrance and risk being seen by someone guarding it.

She had Pikekit and Mintkit climb on her back and cling to her shoulders while she carried Leafkit in her arms. Once they were at the top, she knelt down to set Leafkit down, at the same time, Pikekit and Mintkit slid off of her back.

It started snowing harder and the wind picked up as they headed for the clearing. Mintkit kept complaining that she couldn't feel her feet, and Pikekit tightly clung to his mother's tunic, trying to take in her body heat while walking at the same time. By the time the crooked oak trees came into view, all three kits were just about half-frozen, and weary from walking in such cold.

 _They should be curled up next to my warm belly in the nursery, not trekking through the forest in this weather. Startribe, what am I doing, forcing them out in the cold like this?_

"Mama...I want to go home now..."

Millie glanced down at Pikekit, then suddenly thought of an idea.

"Here, I'll dig a little hole for you three when we get to those crooked trees. At least you'll be out of the weather."

At the base of the crooked oaks, she got down and dug a little hole underneath it. She then put the kits in the hole.

"I'll be right back, little ones."

She headed to the clearing and looked up. Pit must've been busy doing something, for it was a long while before he finally showed. He shuddered as a gust of wind passed.

"I remember when it was like this years ago. It's almost like being back in the past."

"I bet so."

"You bring them? I'm assuming that's why you're here."

"Y-Yes, I did. I'll go get them."

She headed back to the oak trees to get the kits. To her shock, snow had started to pile up over the hole. Not much, but enough to partially hide it. Down inside, her kits were tightly balled up, their little faces and hands and feet red from the cold.

"Come on, little ones. Wake up."

Pikekit was the first to stir. He shakily stood up and snorted, as his breath had started freezing over his nostrils, making it hard for him to breathe. Mintkit softly whimpered, but then stood up as well. After hauling the two kits out of the hole, she tried to wake up Leafkit, but the kit wouldn't respond.

"Leafkit...come on, just a little further..."

The kit didn't stir. She just lay perfectly still. Worry filling her, Millie picked up the kit and hugged her, but soon realized that Leafkit was no longer breathing, nor could Millie feel the kit's heart beating.

Millie tightly hugged the dead kit to her chest as pure grief stabbed her like a shard of ice. Taking in what remained of the kit's scent, she recalled the few memories she had of the kit, as tears rolled down her cheeks. After a moment, she put down Leafkit's little body, and came out of the hole.

"Come on, let's go."

She led the two to the clearing where Pit was. The angel was a bit surprised to see them.

"Here they are. Pikekit and Mintkit. Please, take care of them well."

"Where's the other one?"

"Dead."

Her words came out flat and expressionless. She slowly started to walk off, but kept looking back, not wanting to take her eyes off her kits.

"Mama, come back!"

"Where are you going?"

"Are you coming back to get us?"

Unable to bear hearing their heart-wrenching cries, she took off into the trees, sharp pangs stabbing her heart with each step.

* * *

Pikekit and Mintkit watched their mother disappear into the forest, then gazed up in curiosity at the strange tom they'd been left with. He almost looked like an older version of Pikekit, but with darker eyes, and wings protruding from his back.

"Are...Are you our father?" Mintkit queried, her head tilted.

"Yes, I am."

He got down on his knees, and gestured for the two get on his back. Pikekit struggled a bit at first climbing over Pit's shoulder, but he eventually managed to get up, clutching Pit's scarf in one hand. Once the two were firmly on, he spread his wings, and took off.

"I'm taking you two to my home. It's called Skyworld. I'm sure your mother mentioned it."

"Yes, she did. She said you were raised here."

"Yes, I was. It's actually a real nice place."

Pit took off even faster as they started heading through the clouds. Pikekit raised his head and smiled, enjoying the feeling of the wind flattening his hair.

The angel slowed his ascent as they neared the top of the cloud layer, and he fluttered his wings to hover as his home came into view. Both Pikekit and Mintkit seemed fascinated by it.

"Wow. This place is huge. You live here?"

"Yep. I've lived here for years."

"Awesome."

He kept to a steady glide to allow the two little ones to get a good idea of the place.

"And that," Pit remarked as he neared the huge temple he was all too familiar with. "is Palutena's Temple. Where I'll be raising you two."

* * *

Palutena stood in the entrance of her temple, waiting for Pit. When the angel finally came into view, she was shocked to see, riding on his back, were two young kids. They looked to be around two years old, maybe a bit older.

"Are those kids yours?" she asked, as he landed. "The little boy looks just like you."

"Yes, they are. Their names are Pikekit and Mintkit."

Palutena nodded once at him, and watched as he started showing the kits around. Deep inside though, she couldn't have been happier to see that Pit was a father.

 _Perhaps...should these little ones mature to sport wings...you aren't the last and only one left of your kind, after all..._

 _—_

The End


End file.
